There is good news for Apple that the financial position of the company will be more stable in coming days. The Apple and HT announced a settlement deal in order to finish the global patent battle with HTC.
Both the companies also announced a 10 year licensing agreement that includes the current and future patents held by both the companies.
The terms and conditions of this settlement deal are still to be disclosed. According to some leading analysts of the market, HTC has agreed to pay Apple about $6-$8 in terms of licensing fee against each Android phone it sells. According to one report, it is expected that HTC will ship 30 million to 35 million Android smart phones in 2013.
If the amount is calculated on the basis of this shipment figures, the HTC will have to pay between $180 to $280 million to Apple annually.
This report also claims that HTC is also paying $5 to Microsoft per Android device as part of a separate patent settlement. This report has quoted the words of a leading analyst of the market as “we think $6-$8 seems reasonable if not a relatively small price for HTC and others to pay to able to sell a modern smart phone with touch screen”.
Before this, Apple first filed a case against HTC on the patent issues in 2010. This sue was also a part of the so called thermo nuclear war against the Google’s Android phones. Since then Apple and HTC have been found in the court rooms across the world and most of the times the Apple has won the case.
After the announcement of this settlement, an HTC spokesperson told The Wall Street Journal that the terms and conditions of this agreement will not have the adverse impact on the company’s revenue. Same thing has also been reported by the official representative of the Apple.
Some officials of the company are also considering and expecting that Apple now will go for settlement agreements with other Android manufacturers including the Samsung and Motorola.
Tags: Android Phone, HTC, Patent Issue, Patent Settlement