Year: 2010

Nokia shouldn’t be found liable of infringing Apple patents, the staff of the U.S. International Trade Commission, reports “Bloomberg” (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-02/nokia-gets-support-of-itc-staff-in-apple-smartphone-trial.html).

“The evidence will not establish a violation” of Apple patent rights, the staff, which acts on behalf of the public as a third party in the case, said in a pre-hearing memo released yesterday. Apple is asking the ITC to block imports of Nokia phones into the U.S., claiming they are infringing four patents.

Elliott Peters, Warner Music Group’s senior VP and head of digital legal affairs is leaving the company next month for a job at Apple, reports “Billboard” (http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/industry/e3i8a210b25e0747b72af6cbdc4c731e6d5).

Wedge Partners analyst Brian Blair has told clients — as reported by “Barron’s (http://blogs.barrons.com/techtraderdaily/2010/11/02/apple-can-sell-100m-iphones-48m-ipads-in-2011-analyst-says/) — that he expects Apple to see 100 million iPhones, 48 million iPads and lots of MacBook Airs in 2011. To be specific, he predicts:

° Apple will produce 45-48 million iPads next year, which would be up from his forecast of 13.5 million in 2010.  He expects the arrival of the iPad 2 to spark sales.

° Apple will sell approximately 100 million iPhones and nab 10% of the global market share.

Another day, another lawsuit. To boost sales of the iPhone 4, Apple told owners of its third-generation iPhone to download an operating system that the company knew would turn the 3G phones into a “device with little more use than that of a paper weight,” unhappy customers say in a Superior Court class action, as reported by the “Courthouse News Service” (http://www.courthousenews.com/2010/11/03/31573.htm).