Apple/HTC settle patent disputes, sign 10 year agreement

[smartpatrol]

I think that if what looks to be happening is true Google will have to pump money into Motorola. If Samsung gets a monopoly on android phones Google could lose control over android. Google has already been forced to pump money into the Nexus tablets because of amazon and their subsidized tablets.

Maybe, but that could come back to bite them. LG, Sony, and HTC are fighting an uphill battle as it is. Imagine how they'll feel when Google is subsidizing their competitor's unprofitable business.

It'll get even uglier when/if Amazon starts selling their own subsidized smartphones.

 

[quest55720]

Maybe, but that could come back to bite them. LG, Sony, and HTC are fighting an uphill battle as it is. Imagine how they'll feel when Google is subsidizing their competitor's unprofitable business.

It is happening in the tablet market already. I see no reason why it won't happen in the phone market in the near future if the trend of only Samsung making money on phones. Now if another android maker or 2 can turn it around then google won't have to step in again. I am not to hopeful to be honest HTC has done so much right lately but are still losing ground to Samsung. Google will have no other choice if the rumored amazon phone rumor comes true.

 

[Skurge]

I think that if what looks to be happening is true Google will have to pump money into Motorola. If Samsung gets a monopoly on android phones Google could lose control over android. Google has already been forced to pump money into the Nexus tablets because of amazon and their subsidized tablets.

I don't want to see this, but Google could learn a few things from Samsung. I know a lot of people hate touchwiz, but it has some pretty nifty features and the browser performance is the best out there by far on the android platform.

 

[lothar]

http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/how-apple-and-samsung-cornered-all-smartphone-profits/

Apple and Samsung are the only ones making money on smartphones. LG, Motorola, Sony, Nokia, etc. are losing money with their smartphone business. HTC is making a tiny bit of profit, but it's down something like 70% this year. Unless they are able to turn things around very quickly, it's hard to imagine those companies staying in the smartphone business much longer.

Now that HTC will be paying $6-$8/device to Apple, they may not even be profitable next year. So that leaves Samsung and Apple.

LG's mobile division made a profit last quarter, and I assume they will make a profit on the Optimus G and Nexus 4 for the next few quarters. They also for the first time built almost everything in house(like Samsung does) instead of contracting them out like they normally do.
Sony won't be going anywhere. With their acquisition of SonyEricsson, they're camping down and preparing for the long haul.

Keep in mind with some of these companies(Samsung, LG, and Sony), they are heavily invested in televisions/display technology and that's where they are writing their major losses from, not the smartphone business.
Their mobile division is their only hope of ever achieving profitability so I don't see why they would exit the smartphone business while continuing to take loses and write down their TV business to the tune of $1-5 billion yearly.

I've looked at some of this companies and read news about them over the past few weeks...Sony, Panasonic, LG, Sharp, etc...It is pretty grim.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-57...japanese-consumer-electronics-giants-is-dead/
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/02/b...-and-panasonic-report-significant-losses.html
Even at a company like Samsung, I believe the mobile division alone accounts for 70-80% of their entire profit.
These companies need the smartphone business to survive, not get rid of it.

 

[smartpatrol]

LG's mobile division made a profit last quarter, and I assume they will make a profit on the Optimus G and Nexus 4 for the next few quarters. They also for the first time built almost everything in house(like Samsung does) instead of contracting them out like they normally do.
Sony won't be going anywhere. With their acquisition of SonyEricsson, they're camping down and preparing for the long haul.

Keep in mind with some of these companies(Samsung, LG, and Sony), they are heavily invested in televisions/display technology and that's where they are writing their major losses from, not the smartphone business.
Their mobile division is their only hope of ever achieving profitability so I don't see why they would exit the smartphone business while continuing to take loses and write down their TV business to the tune of $1-5 billion yearly.

I've looked at some of this companies and read news about them over the past few weeks...Sony, Panasonic, LG, Sharp, etc...It is pretty grim.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-57...japanese-consumer-electronics-giants-is-dead/
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/02/b...-and-panasonic-report-significant-losses.html
Even at a company like Samsung, I believe the mobile division alone accounts for 70-80% of their entire profit.
These companies need the smartphone business to survive, not get rid of it.

LG may have a fighting chance. The others. . . I'll believe it when I see it. Sony has been trying for a couple years to break into the Android scene with no luck. Panasonic and Sharp have done even worse so far. Heck, HTC (who already had a pretty strong presence) completely revamped their product line and put out some stellar phones last year, and their profits and sales still tanked.

Samsung is fast becoming THE de facto Android device manufacturer. Anybody who wants to make it in the smartphone market has to answer the question: "why would one choose our device over the Galaxy S or iPhone?" Just putting out a pretty good device isn't enough. At this point, they have to offer something you can't get from Samsung or Apple, and have a massive marketing push to back it up.

 

[s44]

Apple and Samsung are the only ones making money on smartphones.

Not this nonsense again...

Qualcomm and Nvidia are making lots of money.

 

[Mopetar]

Qualcomm and Nvidia are making lots of money.

Maybe Qualcomm, but Nokia has been reporting losses for the past several quarters now.

Also, Qualcomm sells SoCs and other parts, not phones. Throwing them into the mix with the other handset manufacturers is a little disingenuous as they don't sell handsets. Although it is possible that if Samsung were to become significantly larger than they already are, Qualcomm's business would start to dip a little as Samsung would mostly use their own Exynos SoCs.

 

[smartpatrol]

Not this nonsense again...

Qualcomm and Nvidia are making lots of money.

I meant smartphone manufacturers. I'm sure there are plenty of component suppliers, carriers, electronics stores, app developers, accessory makers, etc. making money but they're not relevant to this discussion.

 

[Phynaz]

Not this nonsense again...

Qualcomm and Nvidia are making lots of money.

Please link to a Qualcomm or Nvidia phone. We aren't talking components here.