Apple triumphs over Samsung, awarded over $1 billion damages

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Big Ben

Thanks God there wasn't this legal non-sense going on when they invented the wheel.

---

You know where the Romans got many of their ideas? From the Etruscans. Do you know why you don't see any Etruscans around these days? Because the Romans hunted them down and killed them all. :eek:

So in antiquity, there were disputes, just as there are now. It's just that those disputes were often settled by "alternate methods" back then. It was often the case that those who came up with unique designs or items for very wealthy or powerful people would have their hands cut off, their eyes burned out or even killed once the project was complete. That's one way of doing it, I suppose. Though that was certainly an "effective" way of dealing with patent risk, I think the modern way is better. And as I said, it may even encourage companies to look harder for (truly) revolutionary improvements, and not just make small, incremental changes to products that already exist. Look at the internal combustion engine. For decades no meaningful improvements were really made until the advent of computer based on-board ECU's.

But I do agree with what some of you are saying: this does have the potential to harm consumers, but only if the competitors wall up their patents and get stuck in the mud as they fight these battles. I think that risk is rather minimal though.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by henners88

I'm the opposite on the OS. I've been using Android for years and have grown tired of it of late. Slow, and laggy on my phone due to my phone not having the best hardware to run it. I'm looking forward to the new iPhone and hopefully I'll be able to justify the cost as I wouldn't commit to a 2 year contract on an Android device ever again. Play store is crap and I am faced with daily updates which is extremely annoying. I'd like a simple phone that does all the social networking I use, email, texts, WhatApp, pics, music etc and the iPhone offers this IMO. I don't mind paying a bit more if I am happy with it either.

---

You too eh? ICS has practically killed my once great phone and its almost as bad as my worst phone ever, the Xperia X1 running windows mobile.

The problem is that I can already foresee my trip to the mobile phone store in a few months time when my contract runs out:

Me: Can I look at the iPhone 5 please?
Shop: Sure
Me: Wow thats nice, what are the contracts like?
Shop: Here they are sir
Me: How much?! Thanks I'll take the HTC

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Jag_Warrior

And according to the foreman, one of the key, deciding factors in reaching this verdict was a memo from Google to Samsung. In the memo, Google advised Samsung not to pursue smartphone designs which mimicked or copied iPhone features or design cues. It looked really bad for Samsung's Android partner to put a warning like that in writing. And because the jury determined that Samsung's patent violations were willful, the judge may decide to triple the damages to $3 billion+.

As for talk of any sort of meaningful backlash against Apple, I've not read anything that suggests that is a risk to Apple, its products or the stock. Samsung, on the other hand, does seem to be experiencing a backlash of sorts, as its stock has lost around $12 billion today. Part of that is because investors are factoring in the damage done to Samsung's brand in the wake of a decision that suggests willful dishonesty. Especially for Asian companies, that is particularly damaging - think Olympus.

---

$12 billion loss in value? What was the effect on Apple stock? So much for Apple losing out but what do investors know...

I think much of the damage will be to Samsung's component supply and also technology partnership side. The iPhone 5 is said to shift away from Samsung components which is hardly a surprise given the bickering between the two of them, but other companies may be put off too. The other issue that hurts is the decision made in South Korea and the American verdict that Samsung refused to licence some of its wireless technology patents at a reasonable cost to other companies including but not exclusively Apple. That smacks of poor corporate behaviour and they'll lose a lot of trust over that.

Having said all that, here is an alternative view worth reading.

http://gigaom.com/2012/08/25/counter...erge-a-winner/

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by henners88

I nearly tossed my HTC away the other day after I installed the new facebook app which was released at the same time as my wife updated the iOS version. They look exactly the same side by side but whilst hers is super fast and fluid, mine keeps coming up with errors and asking me to send a bloody report!!

---

Count yourself lucky, at least you've got yours running. I've abandoned using the FB app because it hasn't even bothered to run once and now access my account through the general internet app. Its as if Google are trying to lose me as a customer. I may end up taking a good look at the new Windows based mobiles as a result as well as the iPhone before I decide what to do. My problem is that I nailed my colours to the Android mast at work so switching to Apple means a serious climb down!

As for FB, their inability to make their mobile apps turn a profit is one of the biggest factors that have dented their share price. I would have thought they'd have tried harder to make their apps on the world's most popular mobile OS at least functional. Ridiculous.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Jag_Warrior

You know where the Romans got many of their ideas? From the Etruscans. Do you know why you don't see any Etruscans around these days? Because the Romans hunted them down and killed them all. :eek:

---

If the Etruscans were being cocky about inventing some geometric shape they got what they deserved.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Jag_Warrior

You know where the Romans got many of their ideas? From the Etruscans. Do you know why you don't see any Etruscans around these days? Because the Romans hunted them down and killed them all. :eek:

---

Eventually even the mighty Roman Empire crumbled. Don't think it couldn't happen to Apple? Look at Nokia a decade ago and look at them now. Apple have only a tiny number of products in the market at any one time, which is so often their strength, but it only takes one to fall out of favour / fashion and they could be the next ones to find themselves on a burning platform.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Malbec

You too eh? ICS has practically killed my once great phone and its almost as bad as my worst phone ever, the Xperia X1 running windows mobile.

---

Downgrade to 2.3 then. At least Android gives you that choice.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by henners88

I nearly tossed my HTC away the other day after I installed the new facebook app which was released at the same time as my wife updated the iOS version.

---

The Android Facebook app has always been utter toss. To be fair, it renders the website properly (even down to the Flash content :p ) so it's not really such a pressing issue as the iOS version.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Dave B

Downgrade to 2.3 then. At least Android gives you that choice.

---

How? Seriously I would if I knew how.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Dave B

Eventually even the mighty Roman Empire crumbled. Don't think it couldn't happen to Apple? Look at Nokia a decade ago and look at them now. Apple have only a tiny number of products in the market at any one time, which is so often their strength, but it only takes one to fall out of favour / fashion and they could be the next ones to find themselves on a burning platform.

---

Actually I do think that it could happen to Apple... mainly because it has already happened to Apple. Whether Rome or Apple, no empire is destined to last forever. I fully agree with that. I said the exact same thing a couple of years ago when a similar discussion took place and there was someone (his name shall go unmentioned, so as to protect the guilty :D ) who argued that RIM and Microsoft were two companies that could not go out of business. Companies come and go. They always have. They always will. I don't know that RIM is going to go out of business, but it's certainly got its feet on the ledge right now. I suspect that it will eventually be sold and its patents will be parceled out. But I don't know. As for Apple, I would say that the major risk is not so much with the number of products, as with the fact that one product (the iPhone) is responsible for such a huge percentage of the sales and profits. So yes, that's certainly a risk, and one which I try to keep my eye on. Apple has done extremely well for me. But I am not married to Apple or any other company. At a certain point in time years ago, I shorted CART (MPH). And I'm sure that every person who knows me on the IndyCar board will tell you what a HUGE fan of CART racing I was. So how could I love that style of racing and the series and then short the stock? Because I generally don't have a problem separating my emotions from business concerns. Apple is no different. If the business ever breaks down, I will have no problems selling AAPL or even shorting it.

Speaking of Nokia, this decisions may have helped that struggling company. Finally, its move to the Windows Phone platform may get some traction if other Android makers also get drug into this situation.