Is Nokia preparing to sue HTC over the recent announcement of the HTC 8X and HTC 8S smartphones? Speculation buzzing over the Internet suggests that Nokia feels like the front and sides of the HTC 8X looks too much like the Nokia Lumia 820. While there are not any official statements that Nokia plans to block sales of the HTC 8X, the site PC-Tablet claims to have an inside source to Nokia that says a lawsuit filing is in the works.
Both companies have been hard at work over the past few months to finalize their products, both companies had early September launch events with Microsoft representation, and both intend to release their smartphones in November. So how could HTC have had time to copy Nokia’s designs with only a few days between launch events. HTC even took the time to create awesome videos of their engineers explaining the making of HTC’s new Windows Phone 8 devices and all the decisions that went into the process. We reported on leaked images of the HTC 8X a week before and two days after Nokia’s WP8 launch so it is hard to believe any claim Nokia makes will hold up in court should a lawsuit unfold.
We can see how the phones have a resemblance, but we have to chalk this up to both manufacturers chasing the same inspiration to design their products. Maybe Microsoft had some influence on how to design the phones and obviously a rectangular shape was hard to avoid.
Personally, I think HTC and Nokia have been taking shots back and forth at each other and Nokia felt a little too much pressure when HTC announced their Windows Phone 8 smartphones. While HTC has been a major player with Microsoft’s mobile operating systems, Nokia is trying to show that they have some steak in the WP ecosystem by trying to belittle HTC. Here’s a little proof of the cheap shots in exchange:
In a podcast recap from CES2012 around the six minute mark, Matthew Miller mentions that Nokia’s CEO, Stephen Elop said, “Nokia is bringing the first real Windows Phones to the consumer.”
HTC announced the HTC 8X and 8S in partnership with Microsoft as the official phones of Windows Phone 8. Obviously challenging Nokia to bring their best to the plate.
After HTC’s launch event, Executive VP in Sales and Marketing, Chris Webber had this to say about its competitors, “”Today is more good news for the Windows Phone ecosystem. While others may choose to tactically re-brand their products, Nokia is driving an industry-leading smartphone franchise – that we call Lumia — exclusively around Windows Phone. With Lumia, we are creating truly differentiated experiences like PureView imaging, location and navigation, wireless charging and Nokia Music. And we’re just getting started!”
This is such bad media for the Windows Phone ecosystem. Microsoft, please step in and calm these two OEM’s down before the customers and ultimately your mobile OS gets the bad end of the deal. Look at the two side by side and sound off in the comments if you think Nokia has a case or not. Which Windows Phone 8 smartphone do you like the most?
Source: PC-Tablet
The two devices do look rather similar, but honestly no more similar than most other low-end Android devices. Honestly, it’s the color palette that makes them look so similar.
However, any reasonable jury should be able to realize that the timeline between the Lumia 920 and the 8X don’t line up in such a way that HTC could have “copied” Nokia. Then again, neither did the timeline between Apple’s iPhone and Samsung’s F700, and we all know how that worked out.