Qualcomm Tells China Court Apple Still Selling Banned iPhones

Despite a court order in China barring Apple from selling some of its iPhones over a patent dispute with Qualcomm, the Cupertino, California company is still selling all of its devices in the country.

That’s according to CNBC, which cited Qualcomm as saying Apple is still selling them in breach of the court order. CNBC noted that Qualcomm showed video evidence to a court in China in which iPhones are being stocked and sold to consumers. Apple declined to comment on the CNBC report but said earlier this week that Qualcomm’s move to get Apple’s products banned is a “desperate” move by the mobile chip maker and that it planned to continue to sell all its iPhone models. CNBC noted Qualcomm said its waiting to see if the injunction will be enforced by the court in China.

Earlier this week the Wall Street Journal reported that a Chinese court found Apple infringed on two Qualcomm patents. Qualcomm told the Wall Street Journal that the Fuzhou Intermediate People’s Court in China ruled Apple infringed on two non-standard essential patents. One of the patents had to do with photo editing while another patent pertained to the act of swiping with a touchscreen. The ruling came at the end of November and marks the first time Apple was ever told to stop selling any of its iPhone devices. It’s also an escalation of a fight between Apple and Qualcomm that has been ongoing for a while.

It’s not clear when the ban was supposed to go into effect but if it’s enforced it will be a blow to Apple, which has been struggling to churn out a hit in China. Reports have surfaced in recent weeks that sales of its latest iPhones aren’t performing as well as expected. The newest iPhones, which were released in the fall, are not on the list of devices Apple has been prohibited from selling.