We all know that Apple is on a “thermonuclear war” to destroy Android, and the company has been relentless in pursuit of its goal with all the lawsuits it’s been serving out left and right to Android handset manufacturers globally. While this could get rid of all potential competition for Apple, it might be detrimental to shareholders according to an intellectual property expert, Kevin Rivette.

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In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Rivette believes that Apple could probably collect up to $10 in royalties for every Android device sold – twice the amount that Microsoft makes for each Android phone that HTC sells. Now we all know that probably won’t happen with Apple being unwilling to license its patents, but there’s something to think about. Imagine all the money that Apple could make off its competitors (not that it needs anymore) at the tradeoff of their iOS devices being less “special”.

What do you think? Should Apple license its patents to competitors or should it aim to shut them all down?

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