Sharp has this morning announced a ¥10.4 billion ($112 million) investment from Samsung that will provide the latter with a 3% stake in the company. It makes Samsung the biggest individual shareholder in the Japanese display maker, and secures its access to Sharp’s LCD panel supplies.
The investment comes at a time when Sharp has been struggling. The company received a $4.4 billion bailout from the banks in October 2012, and its iPad display orders from Apple were recently cut as consumer demand shifted to the smaller iPad mini, which Sharp is not involved with.
While Apple fans will argue that Android copied iOS, it’s hard to deny that Apple didn’t take a little bit of inspiration back from from Android, too. Its Notification Center is an almost identical copy of Android’s — that’s easy to see no matter which side of the fence you’re on. In fact, Samsung’s now using this as another reason to sue Apple in South Korea.
Almost three months after making its debut in the United States, Apple’s iPhone 5 goes on sale in China and 32 addition countries today. As is often the case when Apple launches a new gadget, fans lined up in droves in an effort to get their hands on the Cupertino company’s latest smartphone before it’s all sold out. Some stores, however, were unusually quiet.
Apple has announced today that the iPhone 5 will be launching in South Korea on December 7, followed by 50 additional countries throughout the month, including Brazil, Russia, and Taiwan. Add that to the 47 countries where it’s already on sale, and Apple’s latest smartphone will be in 97 markets by 2013.
South Korea has asked Apple to remove the Japanese names of the Dokdo islets from its new Maps app in iOS 6. Both Asian countries claim ownership of Dokdo, which has long caused tensions between the two. In iOS 5, when Maps was powered by Google Maps, only the Korean name for the islets was used, and that’s how Korean officials want it to stay.
Despite strong demand, the new iPad continues its international rollout next week.
Exactly one month after the device made its debut in the U.S. on March 16, the new iPad will arrive in South Korea and 11 additional countries this week.
If you’re reading us from Asia, great news: the Asian continent’s own answer to Black Friday starts tomorrow, January 6th, and as rumored. Apple’s now having a Lunar New Year Sale to celebrate, offering discounts on most of their popular products in China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand.
The discounts are basically similar to those U.S. Apple Store customers saw in November, with discounts of between 6-8% on iPads, 10% discounts on iPods, and between 5-10% off all MacBooks.
If you’re in one of the aforementioned countries and want to start the New Year right, get hopping: this sale will only continue for 24 hours.
In the war between Apple and Android, there are no holiday breaks. That incessant back-and-forth could be seen in how many devices were activated during the Christmas weekend. According to a mobile analytics firm, Apple destroyed Android in places like the U.S., the U.K. and Germany, often spearheaded by the iPod touch and iPad.
In the ever-changing patent wars, somedays you are the windshield and some days you are the bug. After coming up roses Thursday, Apple finds itself on the losing side against Samsung and Motorola.
In a twist that’s left many scratching their heads, Apple’s rival Samsung dropped plans to block iPhone 4S sales on its home turf of South Korea… the one place they could really hope for a reasonable chance at a court win. After a long-running debate, the Android-maker reportedly decided not to battle Apple in its home country because they do not need to “gain more market share in Korea,” a blustery position if there ever was one.
![Apple Offering Discounts On Most Products In Asia To Celebrate The Lunar New Year [Deals]](http://cdn.cultofmac.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Screen-Shot-2012-01-05-at-12.23.05-PM-640x163.jpg "Screen Shot 2012-01-05 at 12.23.05 PM")
![Apple iPod Touch, iPad Lead List of Favorite Holiday iGifts [Survey]](http://cdn.cultofmac.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/iosactivations.jpg "iosactivations")
