Minister of Economic Affairs Shih Yen-shiang (施顏祥) yesterday said the ministry would provide smartphone vendor HTC Corp (宏達電) with assistance, if necessary, to deal with the litigation on patent infringement brought against it by Apple Inc.
Shih told lawmakers at a legislative session that the ministry has kept in close touch with HTC to keep informed of the progress of the litigation.
HTC said on Wednesday that shipments of HTC One X and HTC EVO 4G LTE models to the US market have been delayed by a review of the US Customs requested by the US International Trade Commission (USITC).
INFRINGED
The customs review came after the USITC ruled in December last year that HTC infringed on one of Apple’s patents involving data detection.
HTC shares staged a mild technical rebound to close up 0.73 percent at NT$414 yesterday, following a decline of 6.59 percent in the previous session amid concerns that the shipment delay would impact its second-quarter sales.
SALES GROWTH
On April 24, HTC forecast its sales for the second quarter would reach NT$105 billion (US$3.55 billion), up 55 percent from the first quarter.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch said if the products are detained by the US Customs for four weeks, HTC’s sales for the second quarter will be reduced by 5 percent to 10 percent, while CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets said HTC’s share price will be under pressure in the near term as the market does not like uncertainty.
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Apple Inc increased iPhone production in India by about 53 percent last year and now makes a quarter of its marquee devices there, reflecting the US company’s efforts to avoid tariffs on China. The company assembled about 55 million iPhones in India last year, up from 36 million a year earlier, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be named because the numbers aren’t public. Apple makes about 220 million to 230 million iPhones a year globally, with India’s share of the total increasing rapidly. Apple has accelerated its expansion in the world’s most populous country in recent years, bolstered
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