Apple Wants To Block Some HTC Products From US Under Tariff Act of 1930

An anonymous reader writes "Days after filing another suit against Samsung, Apple took aim at smaller rival HTC, filling a claim with the International Trade Commission (ITC) to ban the sales of the competing smartphones and tablets. Apple said that HTC was infringing on 'groundbreaking' [technology] that Apple developed for its iPod, iPhone and iPad products."

Comments

Apple sees the writing on the wall..

[RightSaidFred99]

Contrary to Jobs' statements, they don't want competition and they learned their lesson back in the early Mac Vs. PC days when they got their lunch eaten by a bunch of nobody OEMs churning out cheap PCs. Apple's model is not sustainable, and it's even less sustainable when people aren't flush with disposable income. Any moron could have predicted Apple would be in trouble years ago - they're one company trying to make one model of phone (which is just an iPod with a 3G chip) versus numerous Android vendors each innovating.

Re:Apple sees the writing on the wall..

[ArcherB]

Gahahaha, I'm sorry, did I just read you as writing that the android vendors are innovating?

I hope you mean in terms of hardware, because they can keep their software/firmware "innovations" to themselves and let my battery keep its life while they're at it.

What do you mean? My Evo3D has awesome battery life. It is certainly better than any Apple phone that's been released, and it has a gig of Ram and a dual core 1.2 Ghz processor. Sure, my Evo4G had piss-poor battery life, but it was nearly twice the speed of any Apple phone when it was released (1 Ghz vs 600 Mhz). That problem has been resolved. Where my 4G would lose 10%/hr just sitting there, my 3D can last the entire day with 80% left.

Oh, and my Evo3d has a glasses-free 3D screen and 3D camera that takes 3D video and stills (or 2D if you wish) with LED flash, 4G speed and a 4.3 inch screen. Sorry, but I don't see anything Apple has ever produced that has "innovations" that match this. My phone even has a flashlight application that uses the LED camera flash with three different brightness settings. It sounds silly, but it has come in handy many of times.

Sorry, but like the parent said, Apple produces one phone. It simply can't compete with the range of Android devices out there. You can pick up an HTC Hero for free or you can get a phone like mine for $200. Apple can't compete on either end of that spectrum. When they first release a new device, they are top of the line for about a week. For the rest of the time, they are middle of the road hardware with an OS that is really showing its age (no widgets? Seriously?). They can't last like this. They are a very innovative company that produces high quality hardware that are works of art, but they are still just one company trying to compete against several, each innovating their own thing. The only advantage Apple has today is in tablets, but I don't see that lasting past this year.

No wonder Apple is scared.

Apple has almost always been worse than MS

[Sycraft-fu]

Just nobody noticed because they were tiny. For a little while in the beginning they were a real techie company. I call that the "Woz Apple." However it wasn't long before they became more locked down and controlling than MS ever was. I've seen it time and time again throughout their history, but they were small, it only affected a small number of people, most of them fans who would forgive any transgression.

They also got a pass from a lot of geek types since they were "against Microsoft." They figured anyone who opposed MS in any way, no matter how minor, had to be a good guy. They never looked in to it past that. The love of the underdog and the dislike of MS meant Apple could do no wrong and they needn't look deeper.

Now Apple is massive, they are a consumer electronics giant. However this is not because of any change in their way of doing business, just that they found a market that they do well in. However because they are large, people are taking notice of what Apple does. They seem to think Apple has changed, and don't realize that only their visibility, and the effects of their actions have changed.

Apple's Weakness

[Nom du Keyboard]

Too bad that Apple is admitting how they can't compete with their design and technology, so they will compete with lawyers instead.

Sad.

Re:I'm not sure why this is modded funny

[CodeBuster]

It isn't like it would put them out of business, but it could shrink the profitability a lot and no company is interested in that.

Take a look at the P/E ratio on AAPL of 16+, analysts' earnings and one (1) year target estimates; not exactly a bargain, considering the risks (Android is both a serious and viable competitor), if you ask me. Plus, if Apple fails to meet expectationsor worse starts missing on quarterly earnings because of Android then look out below because Apple has a long ways to fall, especially given the fact that its meteoric rise in recent years is due in no small part to the fantastically profitable iPhone. If you want to see an example of how quickly the markets and Wall Street can punish a tech company that fails to deliver on expectations, look no further than RIMM which some commentators now refer to as, "wasted research, downward motion". Research in motion is down 63% from its 52 week high; that's brutal if you were a buyer any time between then and now.

I consider myself to be a fairly savvy investor, but the smart phone market changes quarterly and the pace of new handset releases, especially Android phones, is only increasing. There are many unknown variables, including killer apps or features, that are both disruptive and come out of nowhere on a regular basis. This may be good for consumers, but that level of risk and volatility, especially in a narrowly focused company like Apple with a healthy stock premium, is high risk and high stakes for all but the hardiest and best informed investors. I'm not a buyer of Apple, especially at these prices, because (a) the stock is expensive and (b) the risks in a disruptive and unpredictable business, like the smart phone business, with plenty of well informed insiders, are too high. In my opinion, most small investors would be well advised to steer clear of these rocky shoals. Alternatively, the telecoms have come down in price somewhat and all of those smart phone users are still paying $30+ per month, in spite of the jobless recovery, for their data plans.