Over the last few months, the abandonment of Germany by OPPO, OnePlus, vivo and Realme has been noted. These are all the brands of the BBK Electronics conglomerate present in Europe, known globally for the supply of smartphones, tablets and other electronic devices of unquestionable quality, purchased by millions of users. Their decision to exit the German market – which does not concern the Europen market – is related to the non-payment of royalty a Nokia for the use of technologies dedicated to the management of networks 4G and 5G. Without the agreement, therefore, it is impossible to sell the devices that use them from Munich to Hamburg.
It was also a very important signal for other companies in the tech world, including Apple which, right at the end of 2023, would have seen the expiry of similar agreements with the Nordic giant. For this reason, Nokia and Apple have reached a new agreement which allows Apple to use some of its key 5G mobile technology patents.
Apple and Nokia sign new 5G agreement
This is confirmed by a joint press release, in which Jenni Lukander, President of Nokia Technologies, stated that thelong-term license agreement “reflects the strength of Nokia’s patent portfolio, decades of R&D investment, and contributions to cellular standards and other technologies”. The agreement will show its fruits starting from January 2024, with regular revenues deriving from the portfolio of more than 5,500 families of patents “declared essential for 5G”.
Nokia, in total, holds more than 20,000 patent families published since 2000, in whose research and development it has invested over 140 billion euros.
The Finnish telecommunications company has therefore concluded that its will remains to contribute its inventions to open standards in exchange for the right to license them to fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms: “Companies can license and use these technologies without the need to make their own substantial investments in standards, fueling innovation and the development of new products and services for consumers”.
The importance of this agreement for Apple it is clear: not only must we avoid what is happening now for OnePlus and OPPO, given the amount of consumers in Europe, but also secure an essential partner in the sector.