Don’t expect another Nokia-like settlement in Apple’s current legal wrangles with HTC and Samsung. The Cupertino, Calif. tech giant could convert courtroom victories to market gains over Android worth more than $30 billion a year, argues one analyst.
“We anticipate that Apple will push its legal claims hard and unrelentingly,” writes Bernstein’s Toni Sacconaghi, cited by Fortune. Apple’s main goal: “to upend Android’s momentum by forcing a work around on key essential features which, if successful, could have huge, positive financial implications for Apple,” the analyst continues.
Just how huge? If Apple forces Android to rejigger its software, there could be a “10 percent shift in smartphone market share from Android to Apple,” according to Sacconaghi. In the U.S., the Android OS leads Apple’s iOS by 11 points, we reported Thursday.
Perhaps most striking is if Apple wins in court, the favorable legal decisions convert to more than $30 billion in additional yearly revenue for the company, the analyst writes. Little wonder Apple COO Tim Cook recently issued this warning: “We have a very simple view: we love competition, but we want people to invent their own stuff. And we’re going to make sure we defend our portfolio.”
