Apple and HTC Settle Patent Dispute 179
An anonymous reader writes "HTC and Apple have reached a global settlement that includes the dismissal of all current lawsuits and a ten-year license agreement. The license extends to current and future patents held by both parties. The terms of the settlement are confidential. From the article: '"HTC is pleased to have resolved its dispute with Apple, so HTC can focus on innovation instead of litigation," Peter Chou, HTC's chief executive, said in a statement.
Tim Cook, Apple's chief executive, also expressed relief in a statement. "We will continue to stay laser focused on product innovation," he said.'"
Re:HTC can't compete anymore (Score:5, Interesting)
HTC used to be a legitimate contender, so Apple did all they could to block them from the market. With all the resources HTC has diverted to the patent wars, they can't really compete anymore and Apple probably doesn't see them as a legitimate contender. Apple probably just figures they might as well suck whatever money's left taking from them. Borrowing from the Ars article on the same topic, HTC (read: the little guys) is just the upfront victim of the patent wars.
HTC now is (as far as I know) now the only company with full access to apple's patents. If those patents really are as valuable as Apple claims, HTC is now in a great position to roll out some strong products. In fact, since they could make android handsets they are in a unique position to use both the Apple and Google patents. If HTC isn't in imminent danger, the next few years could be amazing for them.
Re:What's the angle? (Score:0, Interesting)
It's obvious... HTC is negotiating and not being unreasonable. Apple plays nice with those that play nice with Apple. Samsung could have gotten the same treatment had they played ball– Apple gave them every opportunity and then some to take responsibility for their intellectual theft, but Samsung was too arrogant and ended up owing Apple a billion dollars.
Re:damn, i was hoping HTC would die off (Score:4, Interesting)
Uh... you're delusional. Apple is doing better than it has ever done... wait, scratch that... Apple is now more profitable than any company in history ever. kthxbai.
Its market share in mobile phones has dropped from 23.1% to 14.9% its tablet share has dropped to 50.4%. Its ipod shares have shrunk to nothing, Android outsell Apple 5:1.
"the days of any Apple dominance are over in pursuit of those profits" I pretty much stand by that quote. The reality is Apple is have been riding high on market dominance [real and perceived] cashing in on all the and adopter money with massive mark-ups...but these are now mature markets. Apple has nowhere to go and its massive share drop reflects that. Lets face it its an Android world now.
LTE patents (Score:5, Interesting)
My bet is that they came to an agreement because HTC hold some LTE patents that Apple need:
Re:HTC can't compete anymore (Score:4, Interesting)
Interesting thought.
If there's one thing we've learnt about Apple, it's that they don't like to share. I can't imagine that full cross-licensing of their patents (current and future!) was a desirable outcome for Apple, going into this litigation.
Either Apple were set to lose, badly, or there's scheming afoot...
Re:Attack of the Clones (Score:5, Interesting)
I said BEGINNING its death spiral. That you can't see a trend right before your very eyes says more about you than Apple.
Top Execs fired at apple for major maps failures.
Deliberate production caps on new releases just so they can say they sold out.
Iphone 5 sales faltering [opposingviews.com].
3 out of 4 [huffingtonpost.com] smartphones purchases are Android.
Apple needs a refresh. Their initial sale clime with every new release is merely eating their own young, reselling to the same customer base while quietly running buy-back programs [arstechnica.com] to take their old units off the street.
You are confusing deployed numbers with new new purchases which blinds you to trends. With a 3 year head start, Apple has a lot of faithful, who re-buy Apple each time. But New (first time) smartphone phone buyers are going 54% to Android [nielsen.com] and a distant 36% to Apple. The irresistible lure of Apple has worn off.
The market is calling TOP for Apple right now.
Re:Attack of the Clones (Score:1, Interesting)
And yet you've dismissed him as an idiot, blinded by ideological devotion to Apple.
So what you're saying is, you have no citation to support your claim, but your feelings were hurt that anybody would dare to challenge your statements of fact. That about right?