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Apple Settles With Creative For $100 Million

Well for a company that's almost bankrupt I guess this was a worthwhile event for them. Now Creative can continue to make "adapted copies" of the iPod and lose money all over again.

Judging by their past business practices it's only a matter of time before they teeter on the edge of insolvency then I guess they'll have to come up with another reason to sue Apple all over again.
 
ender78 said:
I see Apple stock going up on this news. $100 Million is getting off easy. Could have been a LOT worse.
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The aftermarket response for AAPL has been negligible...down 21 cents on top of a 31 cent decline in regular trading. Creative, on the other hand, is now up 36% in after hours trading.
 
This is slightly disheartening news. All the info seems to suggest that Apple wanted this to end quickly so they made an offer to a small company that wouldn't cost as much as they may have lost in the lawsuit.

Makes me wonder how different they were really thinking...
 
How Funny!

I was driving home for lunch today and thought "I wonder what ever happened with that Creative suit? I bet Apple will settle."

Well, now i know!
 
Bern said:
Well for a company that's almost bankrupt I guess this was a worthwhile event for them. Now Creative can continue to make "adapted copies" of the iPod and lose money all over again.

Judging by their past business practices it's only a matter of time before they teeter on the edge of insolvency then I guess they'll have to come up with another reason to sue Apple all over again.
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what was apple a few years ago its only cause of ipods and reacently a lot of folk taking a keen eye in a comptuer system that can dual boot osx and windows sorry aint read all replys to this 100 million is not pocket change but it sure as hell aint as bad as it could have been thats my opinion on it at least
 
Creative declares 'war' on Apple's iPod
Digital music player maker Creative has pledged to spend $100m to out-market Apple in a bid to take the market away from the iPod.

And not just Apple. Speaking in Singapore this week, Creative CEO Sim Wong Hoo bullishly pronounced: "I'm planning to spend some serious money - I intend to out-market everyone."
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I guess Creative just broke even. :)

In other news, Creative has been granted permission to use the "Made For iPod" logo on their upcoming line of iPod accessories.
 
What exactly was this patent for? Why doesn't it affect other players and music services besides iPod+iTunes?
 
Another spin on all of this is the fact they just get 100 million from apple and now they decided to spend mega bucks on it over here in the uk up untill reacently we hardly sore a advert for ipods or apple computers saw a lot of adds for creative zen but bugger all for ipods which is better i wonder ie market leader who dosnt push the advertising or the people who advertise a lot and still dont have a large market share ....


To put it politely theres to many fingers in this pie and end of the day i know which system i prefer i aint saying its apple and its ipod either :D
 
WildCowboy said:
Creative's stock up 30% in after-hours trading. The $100 million is a drop in the bucket for Apple, but it will certainly help Creative...
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Which is probably why they sued. Knowing they are running out of cash, they figured "Let's jump on the bandwagon and sue someone".
 
Peterkro said:
Methinks a creative person involved in the negotiations could have made a fortune buying Creative stock at the right time.It would be illegal of course.:rolleyes:
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... and then sell them and buy apple stock
 
Probably saved Creative

Before this set of law suits between creative and Apple, Creative had a leg in the cript. Now the 100 million will probably save the company.

It is likely that someone screwed up and delayed in applying for a patent, as such, :eek: Creative got there first. Maybe that is why Steve sounded pissed.
 
Good news all around if you ask me. See the NTP vs. RIM case for proof of how ridiculous things could have gotten.
 
CANEHDN said:
Which is probably why they sued. Knowing they are running out of cash, they figured "Let's jump on the bandwagon and sue someone".
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If you believe that, then please give me a valid reason why Apple settled for 100 million...
 
Steve Jobs knew this was a BS patent and it shows in his comments. Absolutely Stupid. Hell, the LISA had a Hierarchal File System. I'm still angry that this patent was even granted in the first place.

Bottom line: Creative knew this was a BS patent, too, but they figured they had to try. However, when the patent was granted to them, they had a weapon in their war against the iPod. Rather than concentrate on making a better product, they used this weapon as a way to get some quick cash. They bet on Apple settling and not going to court.

In the meantime, MS comes in and announces Zune, which threatens other WMA compatible players like Creative's offerings. Creative now thinks they need a backup plan and decides that during the negotiations with Apple, they can get them to give them a license to produce iPod-approved products. Now they have a fallback incase their own offerings fizzle out.

The question is: Will they go after Microsoft, too? It would be hypocritical not to, after all.
 
spicyapple said:
I guess Creative just broke even. :)
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And it probably ended up costing Apple less than litigating the 5 lawsuits.

What's most interesting about the settlement is that it doesn't seem like Creative got much in the way of cross licensing out of it.

B
 
EagerDragon said:
It is likely that someone screwed up and delayed in applying for a patent, as such, :eek: Creative got there first. Maybe that is why Steve sounded pissed.
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That's what I think could have happened too. I don't know why people think Creative made this up and Apple felt like giving $100 million to charity or something.

Apple was wrong in this one. The End
 
Cameront9 thats what iam thinking whats this zen gona use that an ipod in its current format dosnt use except wifi and xbox live stuff
 
Subiklim said:
A little-known company, and that was to create it's product. If apple buys one of their largest competitors, that will raise a few eyebrows.
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Think Microsoft strategy here. They settle with Creative for $100 million and Creative join the Made for iPod scheme. If they suceed and get back on their feet, it helps Apple argue they aren't anti-competition, if they fail, Creative fall by the wayside and Apple could perhpas snap them up for a bargain.

Buy Creative now and thy will not only be accused of anti-competitive behaviour, but probably lose any cases over Fairplay.
 
thats retarded, apple holds many patents creative infringes, they should of fought it harder.
 
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