HTC has issued a statement of their own regarding Apple's lawsuit, and the company clearly feels insulted by Steve Jobs.
When looking back at devices like the T-Mobile MDA Pro and O2 XDA Exec, there's little doubt that Apple isn't the sharpest manufacturer on the block. However, when a manufacturer starts getting the hang of interface designs as well, and plans to dominate the all-touch market with uni-body smartphones, what other choice would a company like Apple have than to sue the manufacturer even if there were only the slightest hope of succeeding with that? Of course, Apple has no other choice.
However, HTC clearly takes Steve Jobs' recent statement (see below) of the matter as an insult:
We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We've decided to do something about it. We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own technology, not steal ours.
Today, HTC's CEO, Peter Chou, made the following statement regarding the matter:
HTC disagrees with Apple's actions and will fully defend itself. HTC strongly advocates intellectual property protection and will continue to respect other innovators and their technologies as we have always done, but we will continue to embrace competition through our own innovation as a healthy way for consumers to get the best mobile experience possible.
From day one, HTC has focused on creating cutting-edge innovations that deliver unique value for people looking for a smartphone. In 1999 we started designing the XDA[i] and T-Mobile Pocket PC Phone Edition[ii], our first touch-screen smartphones, and they both shipped in 2002 with more than 50 additional HTC smartphone models shipping since then.
What's originating from Microsoft patents and what's originating from HTC patents in HTC's products through the years isn't something we're going to delve into here. However, we definitely agree with HTC when it comes to the fact that they've played one of the key roles in paving the way for Apple's iPhone. As such, Steve Jobs' statement should probably have offered a bit of nuance.
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