FTC vs. Qualcomm: Why you should care

[MUSIC] Qualcomm makes chips that power smartphones, and they also help you connect to a mobile network. It also makes technology related to things like power management, like making sure your device doesn't use too much energy. They typically always like these in a big package. So for one set fee per device that's shipped, you- You get access to all of their technology. The FTC believes that Qualcomm is a monopoly. That the contracts it has for its licensing technologies and the rates it charges are too high. That means there isn't as much competition. Qualcomm though says that this is common practice for ways of licensing It's easier for everybody to take a license on all of its technologies instead of doing each one individually. They own thousands of patents related to phones. So these two are battling on whether Qualcomm is actually a monopoly or whether its practices are legal. One of the major players in this case is Apple. They were named specifically in the FTC suit that Qualcomm, their contracts with Apple have meant that Apple couldn't work with other people, That it was being over charged for technology, and that's made everybody's phones cost more. Apple's had a couple of witnesses in the trial of the FTC [UNKNOWN] testify about their relationship with [UNKNOWN]. How they kind of felt like they had no options except to pay the licensing fees [UNKNOWN] asked for, [MUSIC] The [UNKNOWN] rested it's case and [UNKNOWN] has been presenting it's defence. Closing arguments February 1, and then a judge will decide if Qualcomm is a monopoly or not. Next were going to see a trial between Apple and Qualcomm in San Diego. And then there's other battles going on all over the world that were getting updates on pretty much constantly.