Apple's courtroom battles against Samsung, HTC and Motorola may be a proxy war on Google's Android OS, a complicated undertaking with potentially large rewards.
Apple's recent high-profile patent lawsuits indicate the Cupertino, Calif.-based company aims to tackle Android's rising share in the mobile and specifically tablet market. Analysts are expecting smartphones to surpass PCs in a matter of years, and Apple fears Google's Android may dominate the market.Google also boasts 550,000 Android smartphone activations per day as of June, compared to Apple's 366,000 daily activations in January. And although Apple is set to release the iPhone 5 and iCloud this fall, besides diving full-force into Asian markets soon, Google still leads in terms of sheer numbers.
Apple recognizes the importance of fighting Google's burgeoning mobile OS, given the fierceness of its recent battles against Android handset and tablet manufacturers. It has several court cases and pending injunction requests with the International Trade Commission set for decision later this year.
And the iPhone maker recently won several victories too, including an Australian ban on Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1, besides securing a judgment against HTC for violating two of its patents. It also filed an injunction against Motorola in Europe.
If Apple continues its lucky streak, the company could see royalty payments slow down its Google-backed rivals and beef up its own coffers at the same time.
But Apple is not immune to courtroom backlash, as it found out in June when a judge awarded Nokia a patent settlement. Apple had to dish out a lump sum plus regular royalty payments to the Finnish handset maker, in a case that may set a precedent for similar patent litigation on Google's part.
Google might have a hard time pinning Apple down, though, as it doesn't hold nearly as many intellectual copyrights. Being a younger company, Google is at a disadvantage in this realm and recently slipped even further behind when Apple with a consortium of other tech giants snapped up Nortel's patents for $4.5 billion.
At this point, Google's chairman Eric Schmidt can only express displeasure at Apple's patent purchasing and legal attacks, for example against HTC.
When asked whether his company might help the Taiwan-based manufacturer if the ITC votes to ban their Android devices in the U.S., Schmidt replied, "We will make sure they don't lose, then."
Whichever tech titan wins the mobile brawl, it's clear the battle will be tough slogging. And though the battle may be painful for Apple and Google, consumers may see benefits, like lower prices and speedier innovation.
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