Apple Settlement With HTC Estimated At $3 billion
Earlier this week, the huge dispute between the Cupertino Company and HTC has reached a settlement. The two companies have dropped all complaints and lawsuits between each other and agreed upon a cross-licensing deal for the next ten years. This agreement is aimed both at present and future patents.
The exact terms under which this agreement was signed are of course confidential, but according to our sources (an Apple analyst), Apple may get a revenue up to 8 dollars for every Android powered device sold by HTC. If we think that last year alone, HTC managed to sell more than 30 million smartphones, just by doing the maths, we find that Apple will increase its yearly revenues by $280 million.
After analyzing some conversations between industry sources, the analyst is inclined to think that the Cupertino company came on top after this settlement as HTC has also closed a deal with Microsoft earlier this year for protecting Android. HTC is believed to have signed the contract for an estimated 5 bucks in per each device royalty.
Just like we said HTC pumps 30-35 million devices yearly on the device market and this figures will translate into a $180-$280 million profit for the Cupertino company. If we think that Apple does not have to lift a finger, the above mentioned figures represent pure profit.
A blog entry written by Florian Muller reveals that the settlement with HTC, is the 15th cross-licensing deal Apple has agreed upon up to this date. On the other hand it is only one of the officially announced patent license deal. No one knows for sure how many other patent licenses Apple has agreed upon behind closed doors. Here is a good example on how Google has not managed to keep Android free despite its claims.
Today, Apple increases its revenues by $280 million annually, California-based company, which in September alone managed to pump into the smartphone market more than 50 million devices, with a revenue peaking at $35 billion and a pure profit of $6.6 billion.
If we think ahead, taking for granted the current HTC sales, Apple will collect at least $2.8 billion.
