In a statement, Apple stated that it was grateful for the Jury’s decision for investing their precious time for the long running Apple-Samsung patent war. Indeed, for Apple, the lawsuit were much more than the patents or money because it considers Samsung a biggest rival in the mobile device (Smartphone and Tablet) segment. Apple is also claiming that it values originality and innovation, and also it is committed for carving the best products on the earth.  In the same statement, Apple declared that the products that it’s designing and producing are meant for customers not for competitors and it won’t tolerate any types of copycatting mischief of the design.
Of course, the decision of the federal court in a smartphone patent lawsuit on Friday shocked all Android fanatics around the world. According to the federal court verdict, Samsung will have to pay $1.05 billion to Apple in damages. Definitely, the decision has created a fear among other smartphone vendors in terms of shape, size, looks and icons.
Nokia Could Leverage Over Apple-Samsung Verdict
I think, it’s the right time for Microsoft’s Window Phone hardware partners to grab the opportunity. Apparently, Windows powered Nokia Lumia models are distinctly different from iPhone and the Finland handset maker has a wide portfolio of patents to protect itself. It’s pretty clear that Nokia is a long time phone maker and users have not ever complaint related to its hardware. This time, Nokia could leverage over the verdict and it will try to make a comeback in the smartphone sector.
At present, Android powered phones are most common smartphone in the world and its market share is continuously beefing up. In Q1 of this year, Samsung outsold Apple’s iPhones and also played a vital role in the decline of iPhone’s shipments in Q2 of this year. It’s also clear that Google is not going to stop Android development due to Apple’s patent fear and the move by the search engine giant will motivate its hardware partners. Google also said that the court report will be reviewed focusing over infringement and validity of the patent claims.
Patent War Between Apple-Samsung
In addition to all above, Apple has also planned an injunction against Samsung’s devices within seven days starting from the day of verdict However, the U.S. trial judge has set the date of hearing as September 20 of this year. Apple is also trying to throw out Samsung’s smartphone and Tablets from the U.S. market and is endeavoring to triple the damages from $1.05 billion to $3 billion. If everything goes to Apple’s way then Samsung will have to stalemate the sales of Galaxy Nexus, Galaxy S and Galaxy SII smartphones in the U.S. market, along with just born Samsung Galaxy 10.1 Tab. Likewise, a parallel court in South Korea inhibited Samsung Galaxy S, Galaxy SII, Galaxy Nexus Smartphone and Galaxy 10.1 Tab in the country. Now it’s quite clear that Samsung will have to recover the fine from the limited numbers of other products.
This is not the end, Apple is yet to target Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 in the U.S., which possesses Stylus feature. In a move against Apple, a Samsung lawyer said that the decision of federal court could discourage innovation and it will also snatch the rights of consumers’ choices. However, Samsung had also filed injunction against Apple for infringing its patent, but jury in the U.S. rejected all claims of Samsung against Apple. The jurors are also seeking to Apple’s claims, pointing out the involvement of Apple’s patent in the dozens of Samsung’s devices. I think, the $1 billion fine isn’t significantly important, but the ban over Samsung’s flagship smartphones and Tablets could be decisive for the company.
How Apple-Samsung Verdict Will Affect Android Ecosystem?
Definitely, every tech companies will prefer to be known as an innovator but not the one who copies others’ innovation. Samsung will try to obliterate the stain of infamy. It’s not a lesson for Samsung only, but for all those are copying the design of innovators. At present, Samsung and Apple combined account for more than half of global smartphone sales. In Q2 of this year, Samsung sold almost double the number of smartphone as Apple sold in the same quarter. That’s why latter did’t not tolerate Samsung’s supremacy in the smartphone segment and it rigorously took an advantage of its patents to suppress its biggest rival. Apple has complaint that Samsung sold 22.7 million smartphones and Tablets that copied the design of iPhone and iPad, and also claimed for $8.16 billion as compensation against the sales since June 2010.
Samsung’s Galaxy lineups run on Android OS and it’s well-known that Samsung is the largest hardware vendor of Android OS. If Samsung losses the ground in the mobile computing market, then it will definitely affect Google which relies on Android for generating dollars – due to enormous advertising revenue potential. If the shipments of Android devices go down, then mobile traffic of its search engine will be plummeted on mobile devices only to create direct negative impact on the Google’s revenue from ads.
It’s true that Google already entered into the smartphone market when CEO-Eric Schmidt was a core member of Apple’s board. Google succeeded to entice Schmidt and finally he resigned from Apple in 2009. Only after his resignation, a thermonuclear war between Apple and Google begun and still it’s moving up. The patent war between Apple and Samsung has been running in ten different countries including South Korea, Germany, Japan, Italy, the Netherlands, Britain, France and Australia. However, judges in Seoul clarified that Samsung hasn’t copied the look and feel of the iPhone and iPad in any ways.
The initial effect of the verdict could apparently be seen within the next seven days since the declaration of aftermath. This week will be epochal for Samsung, because it will have to pull its products out from the shelves in the U.S., due to breaching of Apple’s patent. Undoubtedly, Samsung has a significant number of fans in the U.S. and if the scenario will fail to change until the end of this month, then the shipments of Samsung’s flagship models will also be effected. This time, Samsung is really facing an uncertainty about the future of its mobile devices.
Another important factor coming out of the verdict is that vendors will have to pay higher for using Apple’s patented features. Last Friday, nine Jurors found that Samsung violated six patents of Apple; Three patents were related to touch functions, allow Apple device users to scroll pages, zoom the images, tap to enlarge text and more. I think, $1.05 billion damage is quite high for Samsung. Moreover Apple is also trying to target Android ecosystem for the best benefits of its own iOS.
The Verdict Will Affect U.S. Mobile Consumers
Last month, Apple succeeded to inhibit the sales of Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 in the U.S.. It seems that the verdict could be lucrative for Apple, but not for the U.S. consumers. It could lead upsurge in Samsung smartphone price and also it will diminish user’s experiences on Android powered smartphones. However, it has not yet officially confirmed by Apple whether it’s agreed to license few infringed functions to other makers. If Apple decides to do so, then Google and other players will have to pay for the licenses as royalty.
In nutshell, if we consider the verdict of Apple-Samsung’s patent, Samsung has never ever won any injunction plea against Apple. At present, Apple and Samsung are entangled into more than 50 lawsuits in 10 different countries. The competition between these two tech-giants has reached to a maximal level now.
