Apple Licenses Mac Software to Motorola

Apple Computer Inc., seeking to revive its stalled licensing strategy and boost its shrinking market share, said Monday that it has granted rights to its Macintosh operating system to Motorola Inc.

The agreement could greatly extend the Macintosh’s reach into China through a joint Motorola venture with that nation’s biggest electronics company. It also is part of an Apple effort to spur the development of more Macintosh software.

Encouraging more Macintosh software is seen as critical to the survival of Apple, which has been suffering through a string of financial and marketing problems.

“Our intention is to get as many people around the world excited using [the Macintosh operating system] as we can,” said Gilbert Amelio, Apple’s new chairman and chief executive.

With Monday’s agreement, Schaumburg, Ill.-based Motorola becomes the largest company to “clone” the Macintosh. It is also the first company to win the right to sublicense the MacOS, the program that controls the Mac’s basic operations. That means other manufacturers that buy Motorola boards and systems can make machines running the Mac software without having to negotiate with Apple.

“I think this is a significant step because it makes the [licensing] process more flexible and allows us to move ahead quickly,” Amelio said.

The deal with Motorola is the biggest strategic move announced so far by Amelio, who took charge of Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple on Feb. 2, when former Chief Executive Michael Spindler was ousted by the company’s board. Although the agreement was in the works before he became CEO, Amelio has pledged to aggressively pursue such licensing deals to try to encourage software developers to keep writing programs for the Macintosh.