Steve Jobs once vowed to wage "Thermonuclear War" on Android, but now that he is gone, and clearer heads are prevailing, Apple may be starting to see the futility of their patent wars with Android. A new report indicates that Apple and Samsung may be in negotiations for a patent settlement. It appears that the war of attrition was taking its toll, even with Apple's ridiculous $98 Billion dollar cash reserve. Supposedly, the two companies have already spent nearly $400 Million dollars in legal fees during this fight, and the bulk of that was spent by the Apple camp. These are huge numbers, even with the mighty cash reserves in Apple's pockets. At some point, a wise business-person must look at the bigger picture and analyze whether the ROI (return on investment) for the action is viable.
It is likely that Apple is finally starting to see that there are a lot better things they could be doing with nearly half a billion dollars than throwing it away on legal battles that have a low chance of success. Perhaps this may even be partially due to some stock-holder pressure, although that is pure speculation.
On a separate note, this news could make you wonder about a possible career change. Apparently, patent lawyers make pretty good money...
Source: PhoneArena
