Beancounters looking into Nokia's patent claims filed against Apple on Thursday believe there is a chance Cupertino will have to cough up some serious dosh the Finns' way.

Nokia is alleging that Apple infringed 10 of its patents in all three iPhone generations. Compounded by the sheer number of iPhones shipped in the past two and a half years, the claim could end up costing Apple $200 million to $1 billion.

Apple sold around 34 million iPhones since 2007. In the last quarter Apple sold 7.4 million units at an average sale price of $566. Analysts claim that Apple, as a relative newcomer to the the industry, is expected to pay about 15 percent of royalties for 3G solutions to patent holders, including Nokia. Established handset makers don't pay nearly as much and the high rate is basically used as a barrier by the big vendors.

Still, even if Nokia is successful in its legal efforts, it will still have to face up to the fact that its smartphone marked share has halved over the past couple of years. Apple currently holds about 15 percent of the market, while Nokia is down to 35 percent.

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Nokia sues Apple over iPhone patents