Tim Cook, now Apple CEO in the place of the late Steve Jobs, has admitted that he was opposed to suing Samsung over patent-infringement issues from the outset.
Steve Jobs began waging a legal war he named “thermo-nuclear” against Samsung in an attempt to keep iPhone clones off the market nearly two years ago. However, according to sources close to the situation, Apple CEO Tim Cook was against legal action in the first place, due to Samsung being a key supplier for Apple iPhone and Apple iPad components.
Analysts have estimated that Apple purchased around $8 billion (£5.08 billion) worth of parts from Samsung during 2012, despite Apple’s legal battles with the South Korean market leader.
As a result of the legal disputes, last year Apple won a huge victory over Samsung, being awarded $1.05 billion (£668 million) in damages after the South Korean manufacturer as seen to infringe several of Apple’s mobile device patents. Despite Apple’s big win, legal battles with Samsung seem to be reaching stalemate, as Apple is increasingly unable to prove its product sales have been damaged by imitative products on the market.
Now the smart device market leader, Samsung has seemed to benefit immensely from its relationship with Apple, bringing the Samsung Galaxy S3 to market closely rivalling the Apple iPhone 5 in terms of specs and design.
The two smart device manufacturers seem set to continue battle as friendly enemies at the top of the market, where they control half the sales and the great majority of the profits ahead of BlackBerry and Microsoft.
Apple has a history of taking on its rivals in court, especially when it took in Microsoft in the 1980s accusing it of copying the Macintosh OS to create Windows. Apple lost the battle and was virtually rendered extinct, until Steve Jobs took up the reins once again in 1996 and invented the Apple iPod, completely reinventing way users listen to music.
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Via: Reuters
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
