Nokia is in trouble. Their Symbian platform was good enough for the 2000s, but the industry has passed them by. So, they partnered with another, increasingly desperate tech company, Microsoft, to bring Windows Phone 7 to their devices, simply because they’re too far behind to make their own platform from scratch. On the flip side, Apple is dominating, at least in profit share, with their iOS platform. Nokia filed suit against Apple in 2009, for patent infringement. The typical legal back and forth went on for 18 months, and Apple finally agreed to settle for a large chunk of money up front, and royalties from here out.
From where I’m standing, Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 isn’t gaining any traction in the market place, and Nokia is now joined at the hip. If that fails, Nokia fails. That’s why I suspect the company, in the years to come, will devolve from the once powerful handset maker, to a patents holding company trolling for patent suits, and extorting licensing.
Granted if Apple was legitimately stepping on Nokia patents, they should pay up. That’s the way it works. I’ll be the first one to stand behind Nokia if there is a legitimate cause.
What interests me more than the implosion of Nokia, who is still profitable, and still sells the most function phones in the world, is the cross-licensing agreement between Apple and Nokia. Apple effectively set the market price for those licenses when they agreed to pay an estimated 1% of unit sales to Nokia. That means other handset manufacturers, to avoid a lawsuit with Nokia, may have pay them a percentage of their unit sales as well. Apple can afford this. Who knows if the other manufacturers can.
That’s why I think Apple agreed to do this, other than the fact that they may not have had a legal leg to stand on. It’s a tactical advantage with them setting up a political environment that favors the companies who can afford it, and Apple can afford it.
This may come back to bite them in the ass later on, but Apple seems to be on a seemingly unstoppable role.
Continue reading:
- Everything New Apple Just Announced (Septembe
- Apple Watch Pre-Order
- Apple Research Kit launches with 5 Apps
- Apple TV now only $69
TAGS:
