Blog posts tagged with 'courtroom'

HTC’s legal wrangles with Apple are starting to take their toll. Though public opinion generally falls in HTC’s favour (courtesy of Apple’s innumerable simultaneous lawsuits with other companies, foremost among them Google with their Android OS), their quarterly profit review shows a substantial loss in sales: down to T$7.4 billion from T$17.50 billion last year. It’s a substantial improvement from their first quarterly report, granted – approximately T$4.5 billion – but HTC can trace a direct reason for their current financial issues: a combination of weak sales in Europe and an embargo placed on HTC merchandise coming into America by (surprise, surprise) Apple. A shipment of One X Smartphones was delayed at American customs due to a claim put in by Apple that they violated several of their patents; though the decision was eventually overturned, and the Smartphones shipped, the delay still made a significant dent in HTC’s profits. HTC are hopeful, however, that there’s light at the end of the tunnel. A recent ruling means that HTC is free to sell its wares in America while the courts mull over the patent war, the judge correctly noting that a long delay in deliberation could cripple HTC financially if the allegations turn out to be unfounded. And though HTC faces fierce competition in its established market of high-end Smartphones (the recently-released Samsung Galaxy S3 is touted as a direct competitor to the HTC One X), it’s competition that HTC can face head-on, in the market arena where they are comfortable - rather than in an American courtroom.