Apple Offered to Licence Patents to Samsung for $30 Per Smartphone

AllThingsD reports on some major news that back in 2010, Apple offered to license its patents to Samsung at the cost of $30 per smartphone and $40 per tablet, as revealed in the ongoing patent infringement trial.

In October of 2010, Apple had a meeting with Samsung where it told the South Korean company it “chose to embrace and imitate Apple’s iPhone archetype,”. In response to this, Apple said the following:

“Apple would have preferred that Samsung request a license to do this in advance. Because Samsung is a strategic supplier to Apple, we are prepared to offer a royalty-bearing license for this category of device.”

You read that right. The unique relationship between the two companies meant Apple was willing to offer a 20 percent discount if Samsung decided to cross-license its portfolio back to Apple. Moreover, Apple also wanted royalties on Samsung’s non-Android phones such as those running Symbian or Bada OS.

Today in court it was revealed Apple estimated back in 2010, Samsung would owe $250 million which was far less than what Apple was spending on components at the time.

Apple patent licensing director Boris Teksler said in court today “we didn’t understand how a trusted partner would build a copycat product like that,” and also noted the late CEO Steve Jobs and then COO Tim Cook had also formerly discussed with Samsung about their actions.

Here is the Scribd embed of Apple’s offer to Samsung:

Samsung Apple Oct 5 2010 Licensing

Apple’s First Presentation in August 2010 to Samsung 

Back in August of 2010, AllThingsD notes Apple had presented Samsung with a presentation to warn them of their patent infringement and also how it affects their business relationship:

“The Android software platform makes extensive use of Apple intellectual property … without Apple’s permission,” Apple said in the report, which was made public on Friday. “Samsung’s choice to use Android without a license undermines Samsung’s greater relationship with Apple.”

The following images are from Apple’s presentation to Samsung. The evidence is pretty obvious Samsung was trying very hard to copy Apple’s design. If you honestly think Samsung magically came up with these ideas themselves…you’re delusional:

Here’s the Scribd embed of the full document:

Apple’s August 2010 presentation to Samsung on iPhone patents

I know it’s a legal process and Samsung has all the right to defend themselves in court. But from what we’ve seen so far, the evidence speaks for itself. Samsung is a copycat, and it doesn’t take a genius to figure that out. Some reports claim Apple is expected to spend $11 billion on components from Samsung in 2012. With their supplier agreement set to expire in 2014, expect Apple to transition to another component maker if Samsung doesn’t do the right thing and pay up for infringing on Apple’s patents.