Apple/HTC settle patent disputes, sign 10 year agreement

[dagamer34]

From The Verge:

Apple and HTC have announced a settlement that resolves all of their patent disputes. The agreement is a "global settlement" that dismisses all of Apple and HTC's complaints under a ten-year license agreement, which covers current and future patents held by each company.

Pretty interesting. HTC has fallen on some pretty hard times, and I'm sure they realized they can't compete in the Android arena full bore for much longer if Samsung continues to clean its clock the way it has in the past year. HTC will start to have to rely on Windows Phone to get sales up since Samsung isn't really playing in that field (the ATIV S is such a half hearted attempt) and they are now getting a marketing push from Microsoft. Very interesting indeed.

[lothar]

Those HTC patents that Apple couldn't overcome must have done wonders for them in providing leverage, along with the numerous loses Apple faced against HTC.

[lothar]

Originally Posted by dagamer34

Pretty interesting. HTC has fallen on some pretty hard times, and I'm sure they realized they can't compete in the Android arena full bore for much longer if Samsung continues to clean its clock the way it has in the past year. HTC will start to have to rely on Windows Phone to get sales up since Samsung isn't really playing in that field (the ATIV S is such a half hearted attempt) and they are now getting a marketing push from Microsoft. Very interesting indeed.

Not sure why anyone would pick an HTC Windows Phone over a Nokia Lumia equivalent even with the extra marketing push, given that Nokia is the one that gets special treatment from Microsoft.

[dagamer34]

Originally Posted by lothar

Not sure why anyone would pick an HTC Windows Phone over a Nokia Lumia equivalent even with the extra marketing push, given that Nokia is the one that gets special treatment from Microsoft.

The Lumia 920 is only on AT&T, and I'm not sure why you'd pick the Lumia 810 or 822 over the HTC 8X on T-Mobile or Verizon respectively for any reason other than price.

[lothar]

Originally Posted by dagamer34

The Lumia 920 is only on AT&T, and I'm not sure why you'd pick the Lumia 810 or 822 over the HTC 8X on T-Mobile or Verizon respectively for any reason other than price.

You missed the keyword "equivalent" from my post that you quoted.

[jpeyton]

HTC was one of the first to bend over for Microsoft as well.

Does this mean a Samsung cross-licensing agreement is on the horizon?

[Bateluer]

Originally Posted by jpeyton

HTC was one of the first to bend over for Microsoft as well.

Does this mean a Samsung cross-licensing agreement is on the horizon?

I think this stems more from HTC losing 50% of their profit every quarter. Thats not a trend that can continue indefinitely. Factor in Apple's court recent court losses, and they probably don't want their more frivolous patents going through trial.

Patent bullying has to end. Companies that practice it should be boycotted by the people and penalized by the government. Only way to stop it is to hurt the bottom dollar. I've said this many times, and its 100% today as it was years ago when I first said it.

[ImDonly1]

Originally Posted by jpeyton

HTC was one of the first to bend over for Microsoft as well.

Does this mean a Samsung cross-licensing agreement is on the horizon?

HTC has been a bigger MS partner back in the Windows Mobile days. Back then HTC was pretty much the only smartphone manufacturer to consider if you wanted a WM smartphone. No surprise they would go for WP over android if it was more profitable. They should since their profits aren't doing too well with android.

[Mopetar]

Would be interesting to know the exact terms. I have a feeling that some will leak out eventually.

[sjwaste]

It's a good business decision. Litigation costs take away from product development. There certainly are meritorious reasons to pursue litigation, but often times, you're best off settling instead of paying the lawyers even more. Those legal fees are non-trivial, especially when you're seeking monetary damages that won't actually ever get paid (appeal --> settlement) or an injunction that has no hard effects.

I wonder what the terms were.

[bearxor]

This will happen with Samsung, but there's a lot more court cases to go through as both companies find out where they stand, legally.

[quest55720]

Originally Posted by lothar

Not sure why anyone would pick an HTC Windows Phone over a Nokia Lumia equivalent even with the extra marketing push, given that Nokia is the one that gets special treatment from Microsoft.

If you want a thin light WP8 the 8X is the better choice. Not everyone wants a bigger bulky phone. Especially if a great camera is not to important to a person.

[DLeRium]

Originally Posted by quest55720

If you want a thin light WP8 the 8X is the better choice. Not everyone wants a bigger bulky phone. Especially if a great camera is not to important to a person.

right and it's not like the 8x has a bad camera either. It's the HTC One camera which is amazing.

[Phynaz]

Good, we need HTC in there. I fear Samsung becoming an Android monopoly.

Do we really want our future choices to be just Apple and Samsung?

[Mopetar]

Originally Posted by Phynaz

Good, we need HTC in there. I fear Samsung becoming an Android monopoly.

Do we really want our future choices to be just Apple and Samsung?

I doubt Google would allow it to get that far. As soon as Android becomes a one-manufacturer game, it becomes too easy for that manufacturer to cut Google out of the picture or start charging them for putting their services on the phone.

My guess is that's why we're seeing multiple, different manufacturers making Nexus devices.

[gevorg]

Originally Posted by Phynaz

Good, we need HTC in there. I fear Samsung becoming an Android monopoly.

Do we really want our future choices to be just Apple and Samsung?

LG and Motorola are quite capable of keeping Samsung in check. There is also Sony. If there is a monopoly, its in that walled garden of rounded corners.

[Kenmitch]

Guess Apple couldn't get past HTC's LTE patents. Only thing I could think of Apple needing from HTC.

[Skurge]

Originally Posted by gevorg

LG and Motorola are quite capable of keeping Samsung in check. There is also Sony. If there is a monopoly, its in that walled garden of rounded corners.

How did LG get to 18%? I've never seen anyone (here anyway) use an LG smartphone. Although having a nexus device probably helps them going forward with how fast they can keep their devices updated. There is a reason why Samsung have so many devices running 4.0+

[Mopetar]

Originally Posted by gevorg

LG and Motorola are quite capable of keeping Samsung in check. There is also Sony.

None of those companies have been profitable recently. If they're not able to make money from selling phones, they might not be around much longer. Outside of Samsung, only HTC has made any money recently, and their profits have tanked significantly from where they were at.

If someone does end up checking Samsung it will probably be ZTE or some other Chinese brand that ends up grabbing market share from LG, SE, et al.

[quest55720]

Originally Posted by Kenmitch

Guess Apple couldn't get past HTC's LTE patents. Only thing I could think of Apple needing from HTC.

My guess is they have bigger fish to fry. HTC has been slowly bleeding off customers for a while. Why waste resources on a company that is not a threat any more. The war is against samsung and google for apple in their minds right or wrong. The way HTC is going it won't be long before they are losing money like every other android OEM not named samsung in the phone market.

[Kenmitch]

Originally Posted by quest55720

My guess is they have bigger fish to fry. HTC has been slowly bleeding off customers for a while. Why waste resources on a company that is not a threat any more. The war is against samsung and google for apple in their minds right or wrong. The way HTC is going it won't be long before they are losing money like every other android OEM not named samsung in the phone market.

Wonder if the deal with Apple is protected from a sale/murger of HTC to Samsung? Would be funny if Samsung sucked up HTC and could retain the rights to the patents....I doubt HTC sold there sole to Apple.

[smartpatrol]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericsavi...-analyst-says/

Supposedly HTC will be paying $6-$8 to Apple per device.

[vshah]

Originally Posted by smartpatrol

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericsavi...-analyst-says/

Supposedly HTC will be paying $6-$8 to Apple per device.

sucks if true.

[smartpatrol]

Originally Posted by gevorg

LG and Motorola are quite capable of keeping Samsung in check. There is also Sony. If there is a monopoly, its in that walled garden of rounded corners.

http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/...phone-profits/

Apple and Samsung are the only ones making money on smartphones. LG, Motorola, Sony, Nokia, etc. are losing money with their smartphone business. HTC is making a tiny bit of profit, but it's down something like 70% this year. Unless they are able to turn things around very quickly, it's hard to imagine those companies staying in the smartphone business much longer.

Now that HTC will be paying $6-$8/device to Apple, they may not even be profitable next year. So that leaves Samsung and Apple.

[quest55720]

Originally Posted by smartpatrol

Apple and Samsung are the only ones making money on smartphones. LG, Motorola, Sony, Nokia, etc. are losing money with their smartphone business. HTC is making a tiny bit of profit, but it's down something like 70% this year. Unless they are able to turn things around very quickly, it's hard to imagine those companies staying in the smartphone business much longer.

Now that HTC will be paying $6-$8/device to Apple, they may not even be profitable next year. So that leaves Samsung and Apple.

I think that if what looks to be happening is true Google will have to pump money into Motorola. If Samsung gets a monopoly on android phones Google could lose control over android. Google has already been forced to pump money into the Nexus tablets because of amazon and their subsidized tablets.