AppleInsider Staff
In a statement to reporters on Tuesday, HTC CEO Peter Chou denied analysts' guesses as to the details surrounding the Taiwanese company's ten-year licensing deal with Apple, calling the widely-cited estimates "baseless."
Speaking at a product launch in Tokyo, Chou said recent media reports that claim HTC will pay Apple $6 to $8 per Android phone were "outrageous." The executive was likely referring to an estimate made by Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu, which has been circulating since last week.
The Apple-HTC licensing agreement appeared as a surprise announcement on Apple's webpage last Sunday, with the deal bringing an abrupt end to a number of ongoing court disputes.
A day after the arrangement was revealed, Wu released a note to investors following checks with industry sources who led him to believe the settlement would result in the purported $6 to $8 licensing fees. If the numbers are correct, Apple could net between $180 million and $280 million as HTC is expected to ship some 30 million to 35 million Android phones in 2013.
"This is apparently lower than the range AAPL initially proposed," Wu wrote. "But to put this in context, this compares to press reports indicated HTC pays (Microsoft) $5 per phone running Android."
Chou did not offer any further commentary on the official details of the settlement, however the ten-year deal is expected to prevent any future suits between the two companies.
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6 Comments
"analysts are clueless" News at 11.
"analysts are clueless"
News at 11.
"Welcome to the 11 'o-clock news. Our top story: Apple to release a television."
"analysts are clueless"
News at 11.
haha, precisely.
[quote name="AppleInsider"]analysts' guesses[/quote] This phrase should accompany any statement from analysts in clearly visible text just so we know it's distinct from actual news. Still, the story isn't that there is no agreement, just that analysts guessed HTC would be paying Apple a certain amount based on what they are paying Microsoft for Android (see Android does make money directly, just not for Google). It's bad to mix fact and fiction in one story as you can't tell where the fiction starts and the facts end. If this CEO is outraged by the estimates, I'd have to assume then that Android infringes on more of Microsoft's OS patents than Apple's or at least the value of them is higher. I wonder if Apple licenses the same things from Microsoft that Android distributers have to or if they have a prior agreement.
I wonder if HTC will seek an injunction against their competitor Samsung gaining access to this agreement via their lawsuit with Apple? Will they use Google's lawyers (Quinn Emanuel) to do so?