Google Inc.'s former Chief Executive Eric Schmidt had some pretty candid terms of endearment for rival organization Apple, Inc. earlier today. At the Mobile Revolution conference in Tokyo, Schmidt snapped at Apple stating:
The big news in the past year has been the explosion of Google Android handsets and this means our competitors are responding. Because they are not responding with innovation, they’re responding with lawsuits. We have not done anything wrong and these lawsuits are just inspired by our success.
Steve Jobs is a genius. Period. However Apple, who hasn't released a new handset in over a year, is currently in the midst of taking the world's top three Android handset makers -- HTC, Motorola and Samsung straight to the bank via the courtroom. All three companies have responded back with counter suits, but already one of the companies looks to be in some serious danger.
A U.S. International Trade Commission judge found that HTC's products violated two of Apple's broad technology patents. The ruling opens the way for Apple to secure an injunction to block shipments of HTC products into the U.S. That in turn means less competition for Apple, at least within United States territory.
Google was unable to successfully spin the HTC news as a win on their behalf. The shouldn't have even attempted that to be honest. No matter how hard they try, or how they view the HTC outcome, the preliminary infringement ruling covered technology that's deeply tied to the Android operating system.
Google faces similar headaches from another rival in Microsoft. HTC has agreed to pay Microsoft a reported $5 to $10 USD per handset. It may seem like a small amount there...but at the end of the fiscal, it's a ton. Now Microsoft wants $15 per handset Samsung sells and is using the threat of a lawsuit to try to drive a deal home.
The timing of these lawsuits hardly seems coincidental. Microsoft's hopes for Windows Phone 7 have fallen flat as the OS has failed to generate any market momentum, thus far, and has only a tiny smart phone market share. Similarly Apple, is getting outsold over two-to-one by Google.
Apparently Apple and Microsoft are in violation of each others' patents. But apparently, when you share an enemy, you briefly become the best of friends. It seems to me Google goes home with the most haters... and when you have the most haters. You win.
SCREAM @ ME!!!
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