I was actually quite disappointed that they settled at the last minute, as we no longer have access to juicy legal discovery that would have revealed Apple's rotten legal strategies and bad-faith practices. Now it's slowly becoming apparent that Apple fabricated evidences and tricked Qualcomm into legal troubles with regulators (eg, rebates for exclusivity) -- which is why QCOM stopped paying Apple rebates.
I don't think Apple is giving up its unscrupulous practices, however, and I'm pretty sure they are setting themselves up for the next battle years from now (Apple is now a direct licensee). In hindsight, QCOM should have taken lessons from Samsung's battle with Apple years back. There were so many red flags from the moment the FTC approved antitrust investigation of QCOM just days ahead of a new administration with 2 of the 5 commissioners missing, against the vehement dissent from the interim chair. I just have to wonder what's in their new licensing/business agreement -- if QCOM had to make concessions like it did before and it's another legal or regulatory minefield.
I don't think Apple is giving up its unscrupulous practices, however, and I'm pretty sure they are setting themselves up for the next battle years from now (Apple is now a direct licensee). In hindsight, QCOM should have taken lessons from Samsung's battle with Apple years back. There were so many red flags from the moment the FTC approved antitrust investigation of QCOM just days ahead of a new administration with 2 of the 5 commissioners missing, against the vehement dissent from the interim chair. I just have to wonder what's in their new licensing/business agreement -- if QCOM had to make concessions like it did before and it's another legal or regulatory minefield.