HTC has finally shed some light on its 10-year cross-licensing agreement it recently struck with Apple. The word around the industry was that Apple would get somewhere in the range of $6-$8 per HTC phone in this settlement. Well, that rumor turned out to be completely off base said the Taiwanese based manufacturer. According to chief executive Peter Chou, the estimated numbers floating around are “outrageous”.
Of course, the HTC boss didn’t disclose the terms of the deal, but his emphatic denial of such numbers was telling. Not only did he call the rumors outrageous, he also called them inaccurate and baseless. Damn.
That being said, the company is happy with the settlement it managed to workout with Apple for a reason. Maybe the amount of money isn’t as dramatic as we think, and HTC could have gotten a sweetheart deal. This deal between the two companies proves to consumers along with the industry that litigation can be avoided if two sides come to the table. This settlement doesn’t only help HTC avoid being sued by Apple for silly things like ‘slide-to-unlock’, but it potentially helps the iPhone maker avoid being sued for the usage of LTE technology, which is something the tech giant’s patent portfolio is a bit on the light side.
[via cnet]