Android handset manufacturers expected to speed up IP agreements with Apple following $1bn Samsung verdict
Following the US court’s ruling that Samsung ‘wilfully violated’ several Apple patents Enders Analysis have predicted that the verdict will mean a quicker response between Android manufacturers to agree a deal with Apple over IP licences.
The research company released research following the verdict, stating in a summary that it now expected the decision to “accelerate IP licensing between Apple and other Android original equipment manufacturers, with Apple (like Nokia and other IP holders) levying a fee per device.”
The federal jury in the patent case ruled that Samsung must now pay apple more than $1 billion in damages for copying the iPhone’s design, pinch-and-zoom and bounce-back features. The sum accounts for 17 per cent of Samsung’s Q2 operating profit and would be crippling to another other OEM, and according to Enders “sends ripples of uncertainty through the ecosystem.”
Apple initially sought damages of up to $2.5 billion, alleging during the trial that Samsung had blatantly copied their iPhone and iPad. Enders believe that despite the ruling “major changes in the Android proposition are unlikely to be necessary, and as long as the iPhone ASP is $650 and Android is $300 or below, market share is unlikely to shift much.”
As it stands, Apple is the biggest tablet maker and Samsung is No.1 in Android smartphone sales. Enders concludes that unless Apple releases a cheaper iPhone “Android will continue to outsell iPhone 3:1 at much lower prices, especially outside the USA.”
Earlier today it was announced that the Japanese courts have contradicted the US ruling with a Tokyo judge deciding that Samsung’s products did not infringe on Apple’s patents. Of the Japanese ruling, Samsung commented: “”We welcome the court's decision, which confirmed our long-held position that our products do not infringe Apple's intellectual property.”