Apple Spent $2.6 Billion on Nortel's Patents, Looks to Buy 18,000 More

Apple spent $2.6 billion on its winning bid for Nortel's patents, according to its 10-K filing with the SEC. Now reports suggest Apple plans to buy 18,000 more patents from Interdigital, according to a Business Insider report.

It is reportedly bidding on Interdigital, a mobile tech company with ~18,000 patents (awarded or pending). Jefferies analyst Peter Misek thinks Interdigital's patent portfolio could be worth $3-$10 per iPhone, or $3 billion to $10 billion overall.

Since news of Apple and Google's interest in Interdigital kicked up, it's stock has soared and its market cap is now $3.1 billion.


Misek says that "Through litigation and licensing, Apple could cause the free Android OS to actually become a burden for OEMs, forcing them to become more conservative in their aggressive pricing plans. This is likely to slow the price cuts Android OEMs are likely to bring. So rather than a $150 Android smartphones, we could see a ~$200 device that is less likely to hurt a lower-cost iPhone."

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