Apple has extended an olive branch to a number of its rivals in the ultra-competitive smartphone market, offering royalty-free license to its nano-SIM design. By doing so, the California-based firm hopes to make the design an international standard.
That is according to the Foss Patents blog, which explained that the move is designed to placate the competitors, including Nokia, Motorola and Research In Motion, the firm behind the BlackBerry. These rival companies have already stated their fear over using technology patented by Apple, which already has a strangelhold on the market through its iPhone handsets.
The key advantages of the new SIM card is that it is thinner and smaller than the micro-SIM, which is currently used in the high-end smartphones. The design is set to be discussed this week at the Smart Card Platform Plenary meeting of the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI).
Rivals of Apple have voiced concerns of the new nano-SIM design, observing that it is set to give the firm an unfair advantage in the lucrative smartphone market. But according to a report on the blog, Apple does not intend to make huge financial gains on the nano-SIM.
Under the terms of the agreement, Apple will not be paid any monies whatsoever for the use of the nano-SIM design, which is an uncharacteristic state of affairs in an industry where intellectual property is protected so robustly. And Apple has claimed that it will ease the concerns and complaints of its disapproving rivals, who are fearful of its control of the market.
Nokia, however, has already submitted a rival design to ETSI, arguing that its approach offers "significant technical advantages" to the smartphone industry. The final ruling on the issue is set to be made later this week and is likely to have significant implications for the market.
