Sources say negotiations between Apple Computer Inc and IBM Corp to renew Big Blue’s license to resell MacOS together with PowerPC to Macintosh cloners have already moved a good distance beyond the events reported in yesterday’s New York Times. While The Times suggests Apple has proposed raising its MacOS license fees by as much as ten times to fend off the challenge posed by aggressive Macintosh compatible builders such as Umax Computer and Power Computing, we understand the figures have changed considerably since ten was first mooted as the multiple. Although IBM is reported to have been resisting Apple’s attempts to curb the high-end compatible builders, the two are supposedly working up a resolution that will ensure no Macintosh cloners are put at risk. Apple’s apparently itching to get through the licensing issue as it is pressurizing a management team already shouldering a heavy burden. IBM reportedly licenses MacOS to Akia, Tatung and to one other cloner.
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