Background
Apple and Nokia reached a settlement and royalty agreement in order to end their patent disputes.This was after Nokia filed a suit in 2009 against Apple for 10 patent infringements.
Likely, Apple decided this would be the best outcome to avoid future litigation. Moreover, Nokia would benefit because it's products were not doing well and this would guarantee some sort of revenue stream.
1. Lump-sum payment from $500 million to $1 Billion (estimates)
2. Royalty per iPhone: $8 (~1% estimated)
3. 5 Year Deal
Interesting facts:
Nokia has said it invested more than 43 billion euros ($62 billion) to develop its patent archive.
Nokia wants to focus on litigation with Android manufacturers and Google
Quotes from 2011:
Independent Patent Specialist, Floiran Mueller commented: "Maybe Nokia could have continued to play hardball and got an even better deal if it didn't face the challenges it undoubtedly has. But this looks like a fairly important victory"
Ramon Llamas from IDC: "Nokia has just provided the overall smartphone market with a gift: it's exposed itself and its vulnerabilities to everyone else. Lots of vendors are going to be able to turn up the heat"
Hence, the debate rages on whether this was a good or bad deal for Nokia. It's important to remember that Nokia was later sold to Microsoft. Presumably, Microsoft is receiving the royalties from Apple now. Moreover, both their Google and this deal is helping their bottomline.
Where is the deal now?
It will be expiring in December 2016. It's uncertain right now if it will be going back to litigation. Likely, some of the patents have expired in the past few years and others are not being violated by Apple. Hence, it will be interesting to see how this patent war plays out. It was thought to be over, but clearly it is not.
My Estimate of the revenues from this deal: 820 million total - 320 (before 2012) ~ 500 million * 10 = $5 billion
My Estimate of the revenues from this deal: 820 million total - 320 (before 2012) ~ 500 million * 10 = $5 billion
Source:
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/jun/14/apple-nokia-patent-case
http://www.idownloadblog.com/2014/01/13/apple-nokia-patent-deal-expires-dec-31-2016/http://www.macrumors.com/2011/06/14/apples-royalty-payments-to-nokia-estimated/
Great post! Really interesting how much money Nokia had invested in its mobile devices that are now so outdated!
ReplyDeleteHi Jaskirat,
ReplyDeleteGreat blog post on the Apple vs. Nokia case. This was actually the one case that I didnt look into in terms of patent infringement case that Apple filed. I think it's very interesting to see how it all worked out in the end and how much Nokia spent on the mobile devices.