Has Apple (NASDAQ:APPL) Made Peace With Android?

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By Thomas Copeland on November 24, 2014 Company

Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple (NASDAQ:APPL) phenomenon loathed Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s progeny; Android. His notorious statement that rendered Android a stolen product and Jobs declaring a ‘thermonuclear’ war on this fiasco is quite evident of his feelings on the subject.

The war has raged on, with Apple (NASDAQ:APPL) targeting its rival’s OEM. The high profile lawsuit against Samsung (NASDAQ:SSNLF) is evident to that. In addition, Apple (NASDAQ:APPL) has gathered five high profile tech companies as its allies. The most prominent of these is Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT). This group of allies is coined The Rockstar Consortium.

This consortium got together to outbid Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) for the acquisition of Nortel (NYSE:NTL) portfolio in 2011. Rockstar outbid its rival with $4.5 billion, with Apple (NASDAQ:APPL) contributing $2.6 billion to become the major owner.

Quite recently, Apple (NASDAQ:APPL) and Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) sat down to settle dispute. This might be a sign of end of this war that has waged since the advent of Android.

None of the settlement details have been disclosed so far, the deal however, is expected to result in tactical shift for Apple (NASDAQ:APPL). Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO) had also been served with a lawsuit, and has announced out of court settlement with Rockstar. According to the settlement terms, the company pays a pre-tax charge of $188 million.

These patent battles have fumed on for quite a while now, with next to no effect on the smartphone market. The Rockstar plans to dissolve and disregard litigation in future, in view of financial expenditure in the matter.

Apple (NASDAQ:APPL) has gone on to settle differences with Motorola (NYSE:MSI), earlier this year. Apple (NASDAQ:APPL) and Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) have also sworn to work together to support patent reforms. In addition to this, Apple (NASDAQ:APPL) has also settled all disputes with Samsung (NASDAQ:SSNLF) on home ground as well as globally.

Apple (NASDAQ:APPL) never went into these patent litigations to make money. The only purpose was to defame Android devices. However, that has proved to be quite a challenge as there are a number of companies that engage Android smartphone technology. Apple (NASDAQ:APPL)’s reaction to Android churned more due to Jobs’s feelings on the matter. However, jobs’s statement was driven more out of emotion than financial wisdom.

This is the reason why such feelings don’t ride the current Apple (NASDAQ:APPL) management. Tim Cook, the new Apple (NASDAQ:APPL) CEO has led the company in a different way and has always shown disregard for lawsuits and in court settlements. He displayed a clear picture of his ideas in the Q2 earnings conference call in 2012. He showed his disdain for litigation and went on to state that Apple (NASDAQ:APPL) only opposes breach of copy rights and stressed on the need for settlement as opposed to differences.

Apple (NASDAQ:APPL) opposes other companies that copy its designs, which is quite logical. The company has restricted routes to limit such incidents, legally. There is not much that the company can do in this regard, and the best solution is to keep calm and carry on.