Samsung, Google, Amazon, Intel, Facebook and others side with Apple in Qualcomm fight

The Computer & Communications Industry Association, an industry lobbying group which counts technology giants Google, Intel, Amazon, Facebook and Apple rival Samsung as its members, among others, has sided with the Cupertino giant in its escalating legal dispute with Qualcomm over smartphone royalties related to cellular technology.

Reuters reported Friday that these companies are adamant that barring Apple from importing iPhones that use Intel’s cellular baseband modems, as Qualcomm has requested, would cause “significant shocks to supply” for smartphones.

Apple is not a member of the group.

The group’s CEO, Ed Black, said in a statement:

If the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) were to grant this exclusion order, it would help Qualcomm use its monopoly power for further leverage against Apple and allow them to drive up prices on consumer devices. What’s at stake here is certainly the availability of iPhones and other smartphones at better prices.

They’re calling on regulators to reject Qualcomm’s bid to ban the import of iPhones.

Apple’s Taiwan-based contract manufacturers Compal, Foxconn, Pegatron and Wistron also sided with Apple, having filed a lawsuit against Qualcomm earlier this week saying the maker of cellular baseband chips has violated two sections of the U.S. antitrust law.

Qualcomm’s CEO hinted at the possibility of an out-of-court settlement with the iPhone maker but that no longer seems feasible given Qualcomm’s toxic rhetorics and the fact that the legal dispute has now escalated with key industry figures aligning themselves with Apple.

In addition to seeking an import ban on iPhones that use chips “other than those supplied by Qualcomm affiliates” and suing Apple over alleged patent infringement, Qualcomm earlier this month also sued the California giant on separate allegations that it infringed six patents around making iPhones work better without draining the battery.