HUA HIN, Thailand -
Last week's crushing US court ruling to award
Apple with just over US$1 billion in damages after
the jury decided that Samsung copied the iPhone
has resulted in a flurry of demands for product
bans and potential appeals from the two tech
giants.
The judge presiding over the epic
case has set a December 6 date to hear Apple's
request for a permanent injunction against Samsung
smart-phones in the US. The hearing for
preliminary injunctions against eight devices
Apple identified for patent violation has been
scheduled for September 20.
Samsung issued
a statement claiming that it would fight the
decision using all necessary measures. An appeal
could take at
least a year to be
heard, by which time all the smart-phones and
tablets in question would have been replaced by
newer models and technology.
A company
spokesman said the options included filing to stop
the injunction, appealing if the judge grants it,
and modifying products. Samsung has workarounds
for two patents that relate to technology built
into the Galaxy S II. The latest model, Galaxy S
III, and the Galaxy Note series were not included
in the ban.
The primary points of
contention in the verdict involved "Trade Dress",
which is a non-tangible asset that covers the look
of a product so that it is unmistakable to
consumers. The jury was convinced that there was
customer confusion between the two products and
that Samsung willfully copied Apple's Trade Dress,
which damaged the US company's sales.
The
actual number of consumers who purchased a
smart-phone thinking it was an Apple only to
realize it was a Samsung when they got home cannot
be quantified. Analysts at Global Equities
Research claimed that the verdict actually boosted
Samsung's sales as consumers rushed to buy the
Galaxy S III and many outlets across the US sold
out of them over the past week.
Samsung
smart-phones already collectively outsold Apple's
by over 20 million units for the second quarter
and the company has a 32.6% global market share
compared with Apple's 16.9% for the period.
Google will need to take a closer look at
its Android operating system since it is highly
likely that Apple, buoyed by its recent victory,
will be gunning for them next. Android played a
key role in the legal battle as it drives sales of
Samsung smart-phones; Apple lawyers have already
begun highlighting similarities between Android
and iOS. Google will no doubt be seeking to
acquire more mobile patents to build up an arsenal
against the phalanx of legal muscle from Apple.
Another victor from the outcome could be
Microsoft, if vendors such as Lenovo, Huawei, LG,
ZTE, and HTC shy away from Google and Android for
fear of being sued by Apple they may turn to
Microsoft and its totally non-Apple-like Windows 8
mobile platform instead.
Samsung wasted no
time showcasing two new Microsoft aligned products
this week including a 10.1 inch tablet running
Windows RT and a 4.8 inch smart-phone with Windows
8. In a statement Samsung said it is "committed to
offering more choices based on the Windows 8
platform for consumers". Evidently it is has
already begun to reduce its heavy dependence on
Google and Android.
Ultimately though
consumers will be the ones to suffer as
smart-phone and tablet prices potentially increase
and software changes and limitations begin to
creep into the Android platform. The court ruling
made it clear that mobile manufacturers will need
to be a lot more careful when it comes to
designing their devices. Time wasted on
workarounds to avoid the wrath of Apple will
result in less spent on innovation and new tech.
The industry may be poised to break free
from the traditional rectangular slab form factor
and rows of grid based icons but if Apple gets
there first with the next big thing the range of
choice for consumers will be minimal and costly at
best.
Hardware Advanced Micro
Devices is taking steps to bridge the gap between
x86 and ARM architecture with the hope to develop
a platform that allows software to run on both
systems. Earlier this year the company said it
would combine its x86 processor with ARM's
Cortex-A5 processor to create a single chip for
desktop PCs and tablets.
Chief technology
officer, Mark Papermaster, said AMD wants to work
with the industry to develop a common
specification that makes it easier to mix and
match CPUs, graphics processors, accelerators and
other processing units.
Hewlett Packard
unveiled the first Windows 8 touch-screen laptop
at an event in San Francisco this week. The
world's largest computer maker announced new
products that included the Spectre TouchSmart
Ultrabook with a 15.6 inch high-definition screen,
and the hybrid laptop tablet Envy x2, which
features a detachable touch screen. Pricing has
yet to be announced for the devices as Microsoft
has yet to reveal its pricing for the similar
Surface tablet computer.
Martin J
Young is an Asia Times Online correspondent
based in Thailand.
(Copyright 2012
Asia Times Online (Holdings) Ltd. All rights
reserved. Please contact us about sales,
syndication and
republishing.)
Head
Office: Unit B, 16/F, Li Dong Building, No. 9 Li Yuen Street East,
Central, Hong Kong Thailand Bureau:
11/13 Petchkasem Road, Hua Hin, Prachuab Kirikhan, Thailand 77110
Hardware
