Qualcomm chief executive Steve Mollenkopf said on Monday the chipmaker's legal war with Apple is about defending his company's business model, but predicted an eventual out-of-court settlement.

"At its core it's really about the price... what to pay for technology," Mollenkopf told a forum at the Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference in Aspen, Colorado.

"We have contracts and people want to pay less."

But Mollenkopf said the disputes are likely to be resolved outside court and that the two tech giants will "move on to greener pastures."

"This is not a new battle for Qualcomm," he said.

"We've had similar battles... those things tend to get resolved out of court and I would expect the same here."

Mollenkopf's comments came weeks after the mobile chipmaking giant filed legal actions against Apple, alleging patent infringement and requesting a ban on the import to the US market of some iPhones.

Apple earlier this year filed alleging Qualcomm abused its market dominance to demand unfair royalties.

Mollenkopf said his company works on "core technologies" that are likely to be implemented years later, suggesting that is why it faces numerous legal disputes.

"This is a very unique business model, it's worth fighting for," he said.

Mollenkopf did not comment on the series of antitrust actions the firm faces in the US and elsewhere, saying only that if there are numerous legal actions "we're not the ones starting it."

source: AFP