As if Apple needed any more weapons against HTC, the ITC’s ruling that HTC has infringed on a couple of Apple’s patents has caused HTC share prices to plummet 6.5%.
While HTC hasn’t been performing stellar in the market, today’s ruling caused the downfall to speed up tremendously.
The company’s financial stability has been brought into question by investors lately, who seem to be realizing that competing against Apple in this space, especially agressively, isn’t a wise business decision. Much of the overall decline is due to a slipping position in the smart phone market mixed with the grim possibility of a large lump sum settlement, should this decision stick.
HTC has confirmed that it will appeal this decision and defend itself against Apple. This is set to be finalized by December 6th, and it will be interesting to see if the ITC rules against HTC.
While I’ve seen HTC make mistake after mistake with its business decisions over the years, I can’t say I want them to fail. There aren’t many companies out there pushing Apple into a corner forcing them to stay innovative. If we start to lose innovative competitors, we will likely stop seeing innovation in general.
Source: TUAW
