Media reports about a possible comeback of the seventh and eighth generation iPhone models, which are banned in Germany.
On December 20, 2018, the Munich Regional Court issued a ruling in favor of semiconductor manufacturer Qualcomm against Apple. According to this, Apple is no longer allowed to sell or market certain iPhone models in this country. The reason for this is the infringement of a patent whose technology optimizes the power consumption of the mobile phone chip. According to Qualcomm, Apple cannot change this with an iOS update. The ruling is not yet final, but is provisionally enforceable. After Qualcomm deposited a security deposit of over 1.34 billion euros in securities, the sales ban came into force on January 3, 2019. According to this, Apple is no longer allowed to sell or market the iPhone 7, iPhone 7+, iPhone 8, iPhone 8+ and iPhone X models in this country.
A change makes it possible
The iPhone 8 in particular was a box office hit. Now Apple is said to have a plan to circumvent the ban. Cupertino plans to offer a modified version of the two iPhone generations. Instead of Intel chips, components from Qualcomm will be used in the iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus models in the future. Information is already circulating that Apple has informed German retail channels of this. The company is also said to have already given distribution partners the new figures. According to rumors, Apple wants to implement the plan quickly. Sales are said to start in two weeks. Official confirmation from Apple is still pending.