Qualcomm Says Apple Stole Its Source Code And Gave Chip Secrets To Intel

Qualcomm has accused Apple (Source: CNBC) of stealing source code and trade secrets of its chips and giving it to rival chip company Intel.

The chip maker is already in a legal battle against Apple, accusing it of breaching their master software agreement that was signed almost a decade ago.

According to that agreement, Qualcomm was allowed to periodically review the source code of the software and tools it was sharing with Apple to ensure they are well protected. However, Apple allegedly prevented Qualcomm from auditing the chip software.

And now Qualcomm is saying that the Cupertino giant stole the same source code and tools to help Intel overcome the technical flaws in its chips.

Qualcomm has even claimed that it has evidence that Apple engineers regularly provided source code and other secret information to Intel engineers to help them improve the performance of Intel radio chips.

While Qualcomm does not provide any direct evidence to support these allegations but it refers to the constant communication between Apple and Intel engineers.

According to CNBC’s sources, the evidence includes not only email correspondence but also Apple’s source code development history along with the code that was used in Intel chip powered iPhones.

Apple stopped using Qualcomm chips in iPhones because of the previous lawsuits and started using Intel’s. But the latest complaint will be an amendment to the November 2017 suit filed against Apple.

Meanwhile, there has been no official comment from either Apple or Intel.

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