A German court has issued an injunction against Apple for violating one of Qualcomm’s patents, forcing the company to suspend sales of some of its older iPhone models. Apple is appealing the decision, but has stopped selling iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 models in its German retail stores.
The injunction comes a week after Apple suffered legal defeat in China in a similar dispute with Qualcomm. The iPhone maker responded to that court order with a software update for older iPhone models, but hasn’t stopped selling any of its phones in the country — a decision that has irked Qualcomm.
The patent at the center of the dispute in Germany covers power management for communications chipsets, something that Apple may not be able to address with a simple software update. The company responded by suspending sales of affected iPhone models in its own stores. However, third-party retailers will continue to sell the iPhone 7 and 8 in Germany.
The two companies have been fighting in courts around the world for some time. Qualcomm, in essence, argues that Apple isn’t compensating the company for the use of its intellectual property; Apple on the other hand has been alleging that Qualcomm is using invalid patents to demand royalty payments for the use of wireless chipsets.
Apple share prices were down 2% Friday morning, but those losses were in line with the rest of the tech sector, with Google stock sliding 2.7%, and Amazon shares down 4.7%.
CFRA Research analyst Angelo Zino estimated in a note to investors Thursday that iPhone unit shipments could trend down by as much as 5%-8% in 2019. He also noted that Apple’s services business will likely grow 20%.
“We see iPhone uncertainty now being largely discounted in the shares and envision a number of catalysts that could help propel (the company’s stock) higher in calendar year 2019,” he wrote, concluding that Apple share prices will likely trend upwards in the coming months, to a target of $215, up from the current trading price of $153.