Rich Fiscus
19 Sep 2011 9:43
Recent lawsuits filed by Samsung against Apple may be a sign of a new strategy for defending their smartphone and tablet business based on recent comments.
Beseiged by lawsuits from Apple around the globe, Samsung filed a lawsuit of their own last week in France. The suit alleges violations of 3G related patents.
They also filed a countersuit in Australia, on similar grounds, as a response to Apple's lawsuit there. That suit has resulted in delays to the launch schedule for Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1.
According to a new report, Samsung plans to continue on the offensive when the next iPhone comes out. A Samsung executive, speaking off the record, told The Korea Times, "Just after the arrival of the iPhone 5 here, Samsung plans to take Apple to court here for its violation of Samsung’s wireless technology related patents."
Although South Korea is a relatively small country, high smartphone penetration rates make it an important one to compete in. The country's two biggest mobile carriers have accounted for more than 3 million iPhone sales.
Much of the reason Samsung has been slow to defend itself is their significant business relationship with Apple. Samsung supplies components for devices like the iPhone and iPad.
A recent court ruling in Germany which bans the sale of current and future Galaxy Tab models is likely the motivation for their more aggresive stance.
Samsung CEO Choi Gee-sung said, "Apple is Samsung’s biggest customer. Hewlett-Packard (HP), Nokia and Sony were Samsung’s previous big clients, however, Apple is now a primary one. From our perspective, we are not entirely happy (about the litigations)."