Even before it has even appeared on shelves, the iPhone 5 already is set for a lawsuit. Samsung plans to challenge Apple in court to prevent the next-generation handset reaching South Korean soil, according to a Monday report.
If you keep up to date on your Apple news, then you hear the numbers. Market share, market share, market share. It’s always about comparing Apple and Android’s dominance.
We’re all familiar with how the big players are doing in terms of market share. Companies like Google, Apple, Samsung, RIM, Nokia and HTC make the headlines every day. But what about the 36% of the mobile market that doesn’t get mentioned? That chunk of the cell phone space usually gets dubbed as the “other” part of your typical analyst graph. The graphs basically say, “Nothing to see here, move on.”
Just who are these no-name phone makers that are outselling all of the industry’s ‘top dogs’?
The fallout from Apple’s lengthy battles with Samsung has started. The tech giant has inked a contract with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) to produce the A6 and successors. The move ends an exclusive deal with the Korean Samsung to produce chips for Apple’s iOS devices, according to a Friday report.
The long-running dispute between Apple and Samsung has erupted again, this time in an unrelated insider-trading trial. The former manager of Samsung’s U.S. division told a New York City court he leaked shipment data of LCD screens destined for the iPad to a Calif. financial analyst.
In the current wave of patent wars, Google has become an arms supplier, buying technology from other firms to increase Android’s ability to fight back against Apple. In its latest purchase in the Silicon Valley’s version of an arms bazaar, the Internet giant snapped up 1,023 IBM patents.
Apple wants courts to pause lawsuits with Motorola Mobility, claiming the Schaumberg, Il. company transferred ownership of contentious patents to Google. The legal wrangling cannot be settled until the Android maker’s acquisition of Motorola is finalized, the Cupertino, Calif. company charges.
In the case of a German judge, looks are everything when deciding to permanently ban Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 in that European nation. “For the informed customer there remains the predominant overall impression that the device looks” like Apple’s iPad, a Dusseldorf court ruled Friday.
Japan is the next stop in Apple’s far-reaching attempt to stop the spread of Samsung rival devices. The tech giant has filed suit in Tokyo asking the court to suspend sales of the Galaxy S and Galaxy S II smartphones, as well as the Galaxy Tab 7 tablet. The Galaxy S is outselling the iPhone in this tech-obsessed Asian nation.
An Australian judge suggests Apple pony up some iPad sales figures to bolster its argument for barring sales of Samsung’s Galaxy 10.1 tablet. Although it is was only a suggestion, the tech giant may have to disclose sales in the UK and U.S. – something Samsung attorneys have demanded.
Apple has already overtaken Nokia as the smartphone leader when it comes to the number of units manufactured, but according to a forecast from DigiTimes, the Cupertino company could also overtake the once unbeatable Finnish phone vendor in shipments by the end of this year.
When HP killed its TouchPad, dropping the price to $99, the PC maker set off a firestorm of interest in the tablet that nobody previously wanted. Now HP said it will restart manufacturing for a limited time to meet what it says is “unfulfilled demand.”
In one of those rare Cumbaya moments in the wild-and-wooly wireless industry, Samsung wants all Apple, Android, and BlackBerry to join hands in messaging togetherness. Okay, moment’s over. Samsung, which is locked in a legal mud-wrestling match with Apple and eyes BlackBerry-maker RIM the way a hungry tiger looks at a wounded gazelle, plans to announce “ChatON”, a messaging service compatible with all major mobile handsets.
Let’s just take a few minutes away from the stories surrounding Steve Jobs and Tim Cook and talk about the iPad 3. We know it’s not going to launch this year — I’d have put money on that from day one — but according to one report it could go into production as early as October… without Samsung on-board.
Samsung had used the Netherlands as a loophole against an EU-wide ban on its products. That option is now closed after a Netherlands court rules the Korean company’s smartphones violate Apple patents. The decision could tie a knot in Samsung’s distribution chain, the latest win for the Cupertino, Calif. iPhone maker.
Despite a rumored delay to the launch of the third-generation iPad, Apple is continuing to piece together its iPad 3 supply chain, which is now said to include three primary LCD makers that will supply the device’s much-anticipated Retina display.
Samsung’s in trouble. The Korean electronics giant is being sued by Apple in just about every market for copying Apple’s iOS, iPhone and iPad designs… and Apple’s winning. Worse, Samsung’s biggest mobile partner, Google, just bought out one of their main smartphone competitors, Motorola, for $12.5 billion. Now that Google has an Android hardware team in-house, how much longer will third-party smartphone makers like Samsung be given equal access to the Android operating system?
It’s a tight spot, and Samsung knows it’s in trouble. Samsung boss Lee Kun-Hee reacted to the news of Google’s acquisition of Motorola Mobiity by telling top managers on Monday to “boost software prowess, patent pools and talent,” as well as seek out opportunities for mergers and acquisitions. Samsung — probably correctly — thinks this will be a quicker way to boost the prowess of their own in-house mobile OS, Bada.
Well, bada bing, bada boom, because a huge acquisition opportunity may have just presented itself. After a single round, HP just threw in the towel on webOS, a mobile operating system they purchased along with Palm back in 2010 for $1.2 billion.
We’re just spitballing here, but maybe Samsung should buy webOS and the Palm business out from under HP? Here’s why it could be a good move.
Following recent issues with iPad displays from LG Display, which has forced the company to turn to rival Samsung, Apple is said to be considering a $1 billion investment in Sharp to secure touch screens for the iPhone and iPad.
Samsung can sell its Galaxy Tab in Europe, a German court ruled Tuesday. Sort of. When it comes to facing down Apple in court, you take any victory you can get.
Apple’s chalked up some big victories against Samsung in recent weeks, culminating in a preliminary injunction that got the Galaxy Tab 10.1 banned throughout the EU. But did Apple do so based upon false evidence? That’s what one Dutch website is alleging, and we’ve got to admit, their argument’s pretty good.
Samsung’s not going to like this: Google has just purchased Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion, finally placing the Android maker on equal footing as Apple when it comes to controlling both the hardware and software of their smartphone platform.
Samsung has just announced the successor to its PM810 solid-state drive which is a super-speedy 6Gbps SATA 3 that boasts read speeds of up to 500MB/s and write speeds of up to 350MB/s. A custom version of the PM810 is currently used in Apple’s MacBook Air line lineup, so there’s a good possibility its impressive successor — the PM830 — will also hit the ultraportables.
Coming off a successful court ruling banning Samsung’s Galaxy Tab in most of Europe, Apple apparently is suing Motorola over the Xoom, Wednesday reports say. However, some warn Apple’s strategy of lawsuits to protect market share carries a costly risk.
Apple has reportedly turned to Samsung and Chimei Innolux for iPad 2 displays having suspended orders from LG Display due to quality issues.
It looks like Apple may have won round two in the global fight against Samsung in the tablet turf wars.
German news agency DPA just reported that Apple has been granted a preliminary injunction against Samsung’s Android-based Galaxy Tab 10.1.
Fresh from its purchase of the Nortel patent cache, Apple is in the hunt to purchase mobile technology owned by InterDigital. Cupertino “frenemies” Google and Samsung are also bidding, hoping Apple won’t lay claim to another piece of technology that Android is dependent upon.