The Fuzhou Intermediate People’s Court has granted U.S. chip maker Qualcomm’s request for two preliminary injunctions against four subsidiaries of Apple to immediately stop selling models from the iPhone 6S to iPhone X. But contrary to some media reports, it doesn’t prohibit the sale of all iPhones in China and Apple is expected to solve the problem by releasing an update to its iOS mobile operating system. The court order is still preliminary and needs to be confirmed. If imposed, it could adversely impact Apple’s revenues as Greater China – which includes mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan – is currently the U.S. company’s third largest market, accounting for about a fifth of Apple’s revenues. Apple’s most recent phone models, which include the iPhone XR and iPhone XS, are not included in the ruling, as these devices were not released when the suit was filed in 2017. However, Qualcomm also filed a request to have the sale of those models banned too.

The patent infringement suit involves Apple’s alleged violation of Qualcomm’s software patents related to resizing photographs and app management on a touch screen, and concerns devices sold with Apple’s iOS 11, an older version of its operating system. Qualcomm alleges that “Apple continues to benefit from our intellectual property while refusing to compensate us”. Apple said in a statement that “all its iPhone models remain available” for customers in China, and has filed a request for reconsideration with the court as a first step to appealing the preliminary injunction. It called Qualcomm’s effort a “desperate move by a company whose illegal practices are under investigation by regulators around the world”, adding that Qualcomm “is asserting three patents they had never raised before, including one which has already been invalidated”.

“The older iPhone models included in the court order still make up a big volume of iPhone sales in the China market and if a prolonged ban is enforced, the supply chain in China will also be affected,” said Kiranjeet Kaur, Senior Research Manager with IDC’s Asia-Pacific client devices group. Foxconn, AAC Technologies, BYD and BOE Technology are among Apple’s Chinese suppliers, providing a range of services including assembling and supplying components and technology for its products.

Canalys Analyst Nguyen Tuan Anh said the ban is unlikely to be enforced in the coming months as it is a preliminary injunction and legal proceedings are likely to stretch out over several months. “The iPhone models affected are already over a year old and since China is an advanced market, consumers generally prefer the new smartphone models like the iPhone XS and XR,” he said, adding that Apple will see only a limited effect on its revenues in the China.

In recent years, Apple’s market share in China has declined from 15% in the fourth quarter of 2017 to 9% in the third quarter of 2018, according to Counterpoint Research. Chinese smartphone makers Vivo, Oppo, Huawei Technologies, Huawei’s sub-brand Honor, and Xiaomi made up the top five in China, the world’s largest smartphone market, in the quarter ended September. Apple came in sixth. If the court order is enforced, Apple will lose out in the category of smartphones priced below CNY7,000, giving brands like Huawei a big advantage to fill the gap, according to IDC China Managing Director Kitty Fok.

Although the court order was issued in Fuzhou, it is effective nationwide. “However, many resellers and e-commerce platforms selling the affected iPhones have not received a formal notice to halt sales, so it is business as usual for them,” said Fok, as reported by the South China Morning Post. The final verdict may still be months or years away.