Apple’s Next Targets: ZTE, Huawei, TCL 华为、中兴及TCL或成苹果下一轮专利诉讼目标
Apple’s (Nasdaq: AAPL) big courtroom victory in its smartphone patent dispute with Samsung (Seoul: 005930) could soon send a chill through China’s up-and-coming tech sector, with the US giant likely to soon file a series of similar lawsuits against companies like Huawei and ZTE (HKEx: 763; Shenzhen: 000063). This probable new twist in Apple’s ongoing quest for global smartphone dominance would not only hit the Chinese firms financially, but would also shine a spotlight on the uncomfortable fact that most still depend strongly on foreign technology for many of their higher-end products.
Most observers were focused on the immediate fall-out for Samsung after last week’s landmark US court ruling, which found that the Korean company’s smartphone operating system copied the OS that powers Apple’s hugely popular iPhones. In addition to slapping Samsung with a $1 billion fine, the ruling means that Samsung must stop selling infringing smartphones in the critical US market.
While the lawsuit directly targeted Samsung, most observers believe it was more broadly targeted at Google’s Android smartphone operating system, which powers not only most of Samsung’s most popular smartphones but is also used in many best-selling smartphones made by other top manufacturers. Following this initial victory, Apple is expected to launch a broader offensive against other smartphone makers that use Android, not only in the US but also in Europe, which often follows the American lead on intellectual property issues.
Four of China’s top smartphone makers, ZTE, Huawei, TCL (Shenzhen: 000100; HKEx: 2618) and Lenovo (HKEx: 992), all include Android-powered models as important parts of their current product line-ups. ZTE has found particular success in the space, with its smartphone shipments quadrupling to 8 million units in the second quarter of 2012 as became a top 5 global manufacturer for the first time, thanks in large part to Android-powered models.
ZTE’s growing reliance on the US for its smarphone sales would make it vulnerable to a lawsuit by Apple, and TCL would also be vulnerable since it relies heavily on Western Europe for its sales. Even Huawei and Lenovo could be at risk, as both are looking to Western markets to power their future smartphone growth.
Smartphone executives at all the big Chinese manufacturers are probably holding hastily arranged crisis meetings this week as they try to figure out how to modify their models to avoid being targeted in the next round of lawsuits. But in addition to looking for short-term solutions, these companies should also look more closely at the underlying factors that got them into this difficult situation.
Specifically, the Chinese manufacturers should ask themselves why they decided to rely so heavily on an OS developed by an outside company like Google. Instead of relying on outsiders for such important technology, these companies should think seriously about developing their own proprietary systems for their future products, even though such efforts obviously require more time and resources. If they continue to rely on outsiders like Google, they run the very real risk of not only exposing themselves to future lawsuits but also of perpetually remaining as second-tier manufacturing specialists that lack the kind of innovation needed to become true global technology leaders.
Bottom line: Huawei, ZTE and TCL are likely to soon face Android-based patent lawsuits from Apple, and would be well advised to develop their own smartphone operating systems.
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