Apple settles patent dispute with rival

Cupertino-based Apple Inc. and Taipei-headquartered HTC have reached a global settlement that includes the dismissal of all current lawsuits and a 10-year licence agreement, the companies said in a joint statement.

“The licence extends to current and future patents held by both parties. The terms of the settlement are confidential,” the statement said.

Apple sued Taiwan-based HTC in 2010 in what analysts have since termed as a virtual war against Google’s Android operating system. The iPhone maker alleged that HTC, one of the manufacturers using the Android OS for their smartphones and tablets, had infringed its patented technology.

“We are glad to have reached a settlement with HTC,” said Tim Cook, CEO of Apple. “We will continue to stay laser focused on product innovation.”

Among other claims, Apple alleged that HTC copied the iPhone’s pinch-to-zoom feature, while HTC countersued Apple for infringing its wireless patents it bought in 2011. There has been plethora of lawsuits among Apple and other smartphone manufacturers, most notably arch-rival Samsung Electronics, whose Galaxy S3 smartphone has, for the first time, overtaken iPhone sales in the most recently concluded quarter.

“HTC is pleased to have resolved its dispute with Apple, so HTC can focus on innovation instead of litigation,” said Peter Chou, CEO of HTC.

Taiwanese company HTC has been losing smartphone market share, as has been Apple, and the decision to settle patent disputes is being seen by analysts as joining forces against smartphone leader Samsung.

Samsung widened the gap with second-placed Apple Inc. by shipping out more than twice the number of smartphones through its factories in the third quarter of 2012 than its nearest competitor.

According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, including the 5 million iPhone 5 units that Apple Inc. sold and pre-sold in just three days in September, the total number of smartphones that the Cupertino-based giant sold during the third quarter jumped 57.3 per cent to 26.9 million over the 17.1 million units that it sold in the same quarter last year.

By contrast, Samsung’s smartphone sales during the thirst quarter of 2012 more than doubled to 56.3 million, compared with 28.1 million units that it sold in Q3 2011. That puts the number of Samsung smartphones sold during the latest quarter at more than double that its nearest rival, Apple, sold.

Research In Motion (RIM) shipped out 7.7m units, a drop of 34.7 per cent over the 11.8m units that it shipped in Q3 2011, while Chinese manufacturer ZTE overtook HTC by shipping out 7.5m units in Q3 2012, a sharp 82.9 per cent growth over its Q3 2011 numbers (4.1m). HTC, by comparison, shipped out just 7.3m units, down an embarrassing 42.5 per cent over the 12.7m units that it shipped out in the third quarter last year.