Breaking: Apple settles with Psystar, agrees to license OS X

Apple’s lawsuit against clone maker Psystar was settled earlier today as the potential downside of losing a protracted legal battle with Psystar became too risky for Apple to bear. The agreed upon settlement has many stipulations, but the most shocking part of the agreement is that Apple has agreed to license OS X to Psystar, marking a return to the Mac clone business that Steve Jobs quickly and enthusiastically axed upon his return to Apple in 1997. There is no doubt that the terms of the deal are bound to send shockwaves throughout the Mac community, but parties close to the case say that Apple was forced into a corner where it couldn’t even take a chance on receiving an adverse ruling in court. If Apple lost its case against Psystar, the results would have been disastrous as it would have enabled any hardware manufacturer to install OS X on their own hardware, and essentially sell Mac computers for a fraction of the price. But why did Apple settle now? Well, up until now, Psystar has only been shipping desktop towers running OS X, but what really raised some redflags up at Apple were Psystar’s recently announced plans to unveil a line of laptops running Leopard. Notebooks account for the vast majority of Mac sales, and that also happens to be where Apple’s margins are highest. According to a source close to the case, Apple begrudingly realized that if their notebook business took a hit, it’s financial position might take a nose dive. Apple, therefore, decided that if third parties would be selling computers running OS X, it had better position itself to get something out of it. As part of the deal, Psystar agreed to pay Apple a one-time lump sum fee which will largely be based on the number of hackintosh boxes it has sold to date. How that fee will be calculated remains undisclosed. Under the licensing portion of the agreement, Psystar agrees to pay Apple a licensing fee for each piece of OS X hardware it sells going forward. Importantly, the licensing agreement with Psystar is non-exclusive, meaning the doors are now open for other hardware companies to strike similar deals with Apple. Actual details of the licensing terms were not disclosed. It remains unclear if the decision to settle was reached by Apple executives, or if Apple’s legal team advised that the odds of winning the case were too risky to move forward with litigation. Whatever the reason, the implications of the settlement are huge, and though Apple stands to profit from licensing fees, it’s clear that Apple probably isn’t too happy about the deal it felt it was forced to make. Though Apple has licensed clones before, Steve Jobs has never been a fan of that business model, and has often mocked Microsoft’s user experience in that regard. And one more thing, April Fools! Like this post? Check out these others from iOnApple

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