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Goliath vs. Goliath Austin Graves
Overview Companies spend a lot of time and money researching, developing, and perfecting their product. Apple is the best example of this kind of company. They have patents that protect all of their phone designs and how the user interacts with the devices themselves. There are a lot of other companies, such as Samsung, that are trying to provide innovations for their smartphone market. However, the harsh restrictions that are being enforced don’t allow them to do so without breaking all the rules.
Similar Devices The similarity of the devices is fairly obvious here. These two Samsung devices were the primary violators in cases across the globe.
Apple’s Judiciary History • Filed their first lawsuit in April of 2011 • By 2012, more than twenty court hearings (against Samsung) were held in ten different countries • Apple winning almost all of them • The majority of Apple’s accusations were a result of patent violation • Biggest victory required Samsung to pay one billion dollars in damages
Samsung and the Court System • Poor Samsung • Only won a single case in the whole dilemma • Did not win any in the U.S. • The company is now broke from the case that awarded Apple one billion dollars
Love/Hate Relationship • It has been noted several times in my research that Samsung manufactures a large majority of the hardware found in Apple devices • The biggest clue as to why the phones and tablets are so similar • Apple is said to be Samsung’s largest component spender at 7.8 billion dollars by the end of 2012. • With the new iPad Mini in high demand, this number will surely skyrocket.
Love/Hate Relationship (cont.) It is surprising that Apple would treat the company that does so much for them, so poorly. On the contrary, it would not be surprising if Samsung decided to boycott Apple’s devices or cease to manufacture their parts. The iPhone and iPad have already been outlawed in Korea; this is where Samsung HQ is located. I think it is only a matter of time until we see Samsung do some kind of retaliating.
Playing Favorites • Apple is favored by courts and consumers in U.S. • Samsung won no cases in united states since lawsuits began • Consumers favor Apple’s aesthetics, marketing, and quality.