Clarifying HEVC licensing fees, royalties, and why vendors kill HEVC support

HEVC’s complex licensing fees and royalties have driven major vendors to actively kill support for the codec, making it the most-read tech explainer of April 20. Unlike H.264’s simpler pool, HEVC’s patent landscape involves multiple holders demanding per-device royalties as high as $1.20 per unit, creating prohibitive costs for manufacturers. This burden is 40% more expensive than the typical rival codec like AV1, which operates under a royalty-free model. As a result, platforms such as Apple and Google have limited HEVC adoption despite its compression efficiency, favoring alternatives to avoid legal entanglements. The explainer further notes that vendors cite unpredictability in licensing fee structures as a primary reason for dropping support, overshadowing the standard's technical merits.