Breaking the Qualcomm taxThe FTC is investigating Qualcomm, and Apple is suing them. Tim Cuplan, writing for Bloomberg, follows the money:
According to iSuppli, Apple's iPhone 7 has total component costs of $219.80 for the model with 32 gigabytes of storage. Assuming a licensing fee of 5 percent, Qualcomm receives $11 for every model Apple sells regardless of the fact that three of the most expensive items are the display (which Qualcomm doesn't make), the Apple-designed processor and the radio chips whose suppliers include Intel Corp., Broadcom Corp. and Skyworks Solutions Inc. If Apple were to increase the storage to 128 gigabytes, Qualcomm's revenue would increase accordingly despite the fact that it doesn't even make storage chips. Increase the display size (and thus the cost), Qualcomm collects. A better camera: You guessed it, more money to Qualcomm.
I heard similar a few years ago. Basically that you (Apple) pay, and pay a lot, regardless of whether or not you need the technology. For example, C...
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Breaking the Qualcomm tax
