Apple could bank $280 million per year as part of HTC licensing deal
Over the weekend news broke of a licensing deal between HTC and Apple. The exact details of the 10-year agreement, which sees the two smartphone makers cross-licensing certain technologies related to mobile devices, were not released, but an industry analyst claims to have a bit of inside information. Shaw Wu of Sterne Agee says he has learned that Apple will pocket $6 to $8 in fees for every handset HTC ships.
While both sides will earn the rights to implement various features without fear of infringing on any patents, a source speaking to the Wall Street Journal confirmed that Apple would come out ahead. With HTC predicted to ship near 35 million handsets in 2013, this could equate to $280 million dollars in the bank for the maker of the iPhone.
HTC executives are apparently relieved by the truce in an otherwise brutal patent war, but HTC cannot afford to lose anymore money on their smartphone business. With quarterly financials looking more and more dire, the Taiwanese company will need to turn around their fortunes if the added licensing fees are to be easily absorbed.
Apple, on the other hand, might look towards the deal drafted with HTC as a model for future settlements with the likes of Samsung and Motorola, though attempts to reach such agreements in the past have been fruitless.
[via CNET]