craigm1841

I know cell phones have been discussed quite a bit around here.

http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker...,EK,T,XLK,QQQQ
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Posted Mar 02, 2010 10:10am EST by Jay Yarow in Investing, Internet, Media, Products and Trends, Mobile
Related: AAPL, NOK, EK, T, XLK, QQQQ, goog
From The Business Insider, March 2, 2010:

Apple today filed a lawsuit against mobile devices maker HTC. The suit claims infringement of 20 patents related to the iPhone's user interface, underlying architecture, and hardware.

In the release, Steve Jobs says, "We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We've decided to do something about it...We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours."

Taiwan-based HTC was the first company to manufacture a cell phone based on Google's Android operating system, which has emerged as a significant competitor to the iPhone, AP reports. It's also making the Nexus One phone that Google is selling directly to consumers.

It looks like the Nexus One, and other HTC phones, may have hit too close to home for Steve Jobs.

Earlier, we supposed that Apple's multi-touch user interface could be the basis for the lawsuit. But after examining the complaint, it appears that Apple is NOT suing over multitouch, but rather a bunch of other software. (When Steve Jobs unveiled the iPhone, he touted its multitouch screen, then said, "And boy, have we patented it.")

Meanwhile, Apple is already tied up in a patent lawsuit with Nokia, claiming Nokia is stealing Apple technology. Nokia says Apple is stealing its technology. Kodak is also suing Apple claiming technology theft.

Basically, Apple's patent lawyers are going to be busy for the next year or so.

skelevirus

Pretty fvcking gay

UUronL

...and it begins.


They never should have been awarded such broad patent protection in the first place, but I suppose that will be the counter-argument.

mrfva

This will be an interesting year for the mobile device market indeed.

pjinca

This is TFF!!!! NOW who is vying for the title of "Evil Empire"? Apple? The holy grail of hippies? Say it aint so Steve!!!!

porsche911targa

Typical Apple way of doing business. I guess they did not learn why they got creamed by Microsoft in the PC arena. It's all about making it easy for companies to work with your platform and sharing. Microsoft did not go after the hardware, they just made sure that their software worked on any platform, now including the Mac.

"Live and learn" never made it to Apple's headquarters.

ron_cb550

+1

PraiseTheLowered

what a magical company with astonishing prices

swajames

So could one claim that BMW got "creamed" by, say, Ford because BMW's market share is lower?

Any reasonable person would, I suspect, argue not. BMW's brand, market perception, and continued investment in its intangibles is not directly comparable to Ford. While both companies sell cars, and very good cars at that, the brands appeal to very different consumers with very different expectations, aspirations and requirements. People will pay more for a BMW and expect more from a BMW because they buy in to and believe in the values of the brand.

And so it is with Apple.

Apple quite simply doesn't play in the same space as Microsoft. Microsoft is a software company, pure and simple. Apple is a hardware, software and services company. Microsoft has a larger share of the desktop OS market, with most of its user base coming from the OEM channel. Apple on the other hand operates a true end-to-end model where its software runs only on hardware which is also designed, built and sold by Apple. Apple has achieved phenomenal success in areas such as music and phones where Microsoft has, thus far, not achieved anything like the same results.

More fundamentally, Apple's market capitalization, revenues and margins are incredibly strong. Apple's market cap is closing in on Microsofts (198bn vs 248bn), revenues are closing in (50bn vs 56 bn). Apple is worth more than Google. Apple has, by far, the biggest share of US retail sales of higher end PCs (over $1000).

The parallels with the premium car business are crystal clear. Premium customers pay more for BMW, Porsche and MB although cheaper, more widely available and widely adopted alternatives are readily available. Generally speaking, Apple isn't playing at the lower end of its chosen markets either.

If one were to focus solely on market share as the key indicator of who is "creaming" who, I'd have to say we're all driving the wrong cars. Using that metric, we all ought to buy Ford or Toyota. After all, market share is everything, right...?

craigm1841

Is this the part where someone comes in and says "in yo face"?