Apple likely to ditch Qualcomm chips for 2018 iPhones

San Francisco: Escalating its longstanding dispute with chipset maker Qualcomm over licensing fees and patents, iPhone maker, Apple is reportedly designing products for 2018 that will not feature chips by Qualcomm.

The Cupertino-based giant is exploring to get its modem chips from Intel and possibly MediaTek, The Wall Street Journal reported late on Monday.

Qualcomm is slated to report its financial results for the third quarter of 2017 later this week. The company's shares have declined more than 15 per cent over the year, according to TechCrunch.

However, its chipsets continue to be featured in flagship devices such as the new Samsung Galaxy Note 8 and Google Pixel smartphones.

"Apple had claimed that the wireless chipmaker did not give fair licensing terms for its technology. It wants to pay a lower amount for using Qualcomm technology in its devices," according to the CNET tech web site.

Responding to that, Qualcomm tried an import ban on iPhones in the US and attempted to block iPhone sales and manufacturing in China.

Qualcomm and Apple have been embroiled in a legal battle over patents since January, when the latter filed a suit against Qualcomm of around $1 billion.