The more I think about it, the less I think that Apple's lawsuit against Samsung is really about getting them to stop selling their phones and their tablets and their media players
Apple is scared of Samsung not because of some half-resemblance their products have (how different are any touch-screen devices from one another anyway...)
The lawsuit is most likely a way from Apple to leverage a supply deal or cross-licensing agreement out of them.
Who has the technology on the most relevant, most recent next generation touch-screens and memory? Samsung does. Apple can't force Samsung to sell exclusively to them, and neither can Apple force Samsung to even sell most of these screens to them for iDevices.
What Apple might be able to do is license the technology and manufacturing process from Samsung and find their own factory to produce them. Obviously, Apple cannot do this without Samsung allowing it.
History is full of example of companies suing each other for millions of dollars, only to end up settling for cross-licensing deals that let both companies go about their business however they want.
This is what Apple is trying to do. It makes sense given Apple's announcement of a 3.9 billion dollar strategic investment back in January. That much money will buy you a foundry (or a controlling interest of one). I think Apple is out to try to produce the SAMOLEDs themselves without having to source it from Samsung.
Will it work? Not as things stand. I really don't see any competent judges levying an injunction on sales of Samgsung's phones/tablets/players, and without that, there is no financial incentive to give away the competitive advantage that Samsung is going to have over the next ~4 years or so.
It makes sense to me.
Apple is scared of Samsung not because of some half-resemblance their products have (how different are any touch-screen devices from one another anyway...)
The lawsuit is most likely a way from Apple to leverage a supply deal or cross-licensing agreement out of them.
Who has the technology on the most relevant, most recent next generation touch-screens and memory? Samsung does. Apple can't force Samsung to sell exclusively to them, and neither can Apple force Samsung to even sell most of these screens to them for iDevices.
What Apple might be able to do is license the technology and manufacturing process from Samsung and find their own factory to produce them. Obviously, Apple cannot do this without Samsung allowing it.
History is full of example of companies suing each other for millions of dollars, only to end up settling for cross-licensing deals that let both companies go about their business however they want.
This is what Apple is trying to do. It makes sense given Apple's announcement of a 3.9 billion dollar strategic investment back in January. That much money will buy you a foundry (or a controlling interest of one). I think Apple is out to try to produce the SAMOLEDs themselves without having to source it from Samsung.
Will it work? Not as things stand. I really don't see any competent judges levying an injunction on sales of Samgsung's phones/tablets/players, and without that, there is no financial incentive to give away the competitive advantage that Samsung is going to have over the next ~4 years or so.
It makes sense to me.
