Apple’s IP Strategy Lambasted By National Black Chamber Of Commerce

Most African-Americans with smartphones use Android devices instead of Apple, perhaps because they are cheaper and available without a contract at corner stores, says Harry Alford, president and CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce. Moreover, he says, citing Pew Research, African-Americans are more likely to use smartphones as their primary way of accessing the Internet. This means that Apple’s patent battle against Samsung has major social and economic implications, and to the extent it’s successful it will only exacerbate the “digital divide.” It shouldn’t shock us, Alford says, that Apple, “a company that has gone on record as saying it has no interest in selling low cost phones, wants to knock down those who are.”