As Iphone Sales Sore; Apple and Qualcomm Lock Horns As the ongoing legal battle over licensing payments between Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) continue to escalate, both companies are poised to continue their current market surge, as per Michael Walkley of Canaccord Genuity. Pointing to Apples strong Q4/C2016, during which they captured a whopping 92% of industry profits and Qualcomm’s imminent purchase of NXP, Walkley reiterated a buy rating for both companies. Despite Legal Battles Qualcomm to Remain Strong Despite a mammoth apple lawsuit against Qualcomm to the tune of $1 billion and pending action by the FTC, Walkley does not feel that there is any serious reason for concern. With the appointment of Maureen Ohlhausen, as acting chairman of the FTC, Qualcomm can breathe a bit easier. Despite FTC allegations that Qualcomm was forcing OEMs to pay unreasonable royalties on their patented technology, Ohlhausen wrote a decisive dissent and there is room to believe that charges will be dropped. Furthermore, Walkley noted: “In covering Qualcomm for the past 17 years, we have witnessed similar attacks on its licensing model, and we believe Qualcomm will ultimately prevail”. …show more content…
According to Canaccord, While Apple believes it pays Qualcomm too much in licensing fees, there is no indication that Apple is seeking to illuminate licensing payments all together. Apple and Qualcomm will most likely come to a resolution on the matter. On the upshot, Qualcomm is expected to acquire NXP at $110 per share by the end of 2017. The bid was already approved by all respective boards and shareholders and NXP’s value has already increased by about