Thursday, June 30, 2011

The iPhone 5 News Blog News Feed

The iPhone 5 News Blog News Feed

Dueling Apple/Samsung Lawsuits More a Wash Than a Gambit

Posted: 30 Jun 2011 07:47 AM PDT


A new legal gambit by Samsung to seek to force a U.S. import ban on the iPhone and iPad is leading tech analysts to conclude an “ugly divorce” between the two companies for a purported A6 chip for the iPhone 6. But this recent move by Samsung may actually pave the way for a renewed Apple/Samsung partnership in 2012.

The technology sector makes for strange bedfellows.

Take, for example, the strage case of Apple and Samsung: while on one hand the two technology giants pummel each other in the U.S. court system, claiming patent infringement, anti-trust . . . you name it — on the other hand, Samsung diligently manufacturers the A5 wonder chip that has made its way onto the iPad 2 and will most definitely debut in the iPhone 5 as well. To this point, all indications are that Samsung has held up its end of the production deal swimmingly, with no suggestion that their quality or production schedules have slipped.

And yet, the dreaded tech analysts are assuming that Apple and Samsung are headed for an irreperral split over the current legal disputes between the two companies. In lieu of a brand-new suit filed by Samsung that seeks to ban U.S. imports of the iPhone and iPad due to what Samsung claims are violations of key patents by Apple, CNN Money reports that “Apple and its main supplier of memory chips seem headed for ‘ugly divorce.”

The article goes on to postulate that “The move may have been a preemptive strike. According to FOSS Patents’ Florian Mueller, Apple was expected to ask the ITC for a similar ban on Samsung’s Galaxy product line, which includes smartphones and tablet computers that closely resembles Apple’s.” This notion comes on the heels of Apple recently obtaining a landmark patent on touch screen technology that could given the legal power to challenge virtually every multi-touch device on the market today that is now Apple-produced.

The immediate assumption that comes to mind when considering the aggressive nature of these Apple/Samsung legal disputes is that the two companies will go their separate ways in 2012, with Apple finding a new manufacturer for the rumored A6 chip for the iPhone 6. There is even a report suggesting that this “divorce” is imminent, which Charles Moore reported on earlier. But for as much as it would be easy to assume that these lawsuits will lead to the end of Apple and Samsung’s partnership, the opposite could be true: these lawsuits could eventually lead to a wash, clearing the way for A6 chip production in 2012.

As it stands now, Samsung and Apple both have potent legal legal claims against one another. Because the legal ramifications are so dire, and because the cases match one another “tit for tat,” both parties may be much more inclined to settle the dispute based on the fact that the prognosis for the conflict is a stalemate. Almost like a technological “cold war,” the hostilities between the two companies are equally devastating; there is no real upper-hand in the conflict.

And for as much as these battles may not seem significant to the average iPhone user, Apple fans should hope for a resolution with Samsung. They have, after all, produced high quality chips for apple as of late, with ringing endorsements of both the A4 and A5. Changing out Samsung for a new chip producer would be an x-factor, and could call into question the quality and release date of the iPhone 6 and iPad 3.