[ 2011-04-19 ]

Apple's iPad 2 (left) and Samsung's Galaxy tablet

Apple sues Samsung for 'copying' iPad
Apple has launched a lawsuit against Samsung
claiming the South Korean firm's Galaxy line of
mobile phones and tablets copies the iPhone and
iPad.

London (UK) - 19 Apr 2011 – The Telegraph -
Apple is one participant in a web of litigation
among phone makers and software firms over who
owns the patents used in smartphones, as rivals
aggressively rush into the smartphone and tablet
market that the US firm jumpstarted with the
iPhone and iPad.

Nokia has also sued Apple, which in turn has sued
Taiwanese handset maker HTC.

Samsung is one of the fastest growing smartphone
makers and has emerged as Apple's strongest
competitor in the booming tablet market with
models in three sizes, but it remains a distant
second in the sector.

Its Galaxy products use Google's Android operating
system, which directly competes with Apple's
mobile software. However, Apple's claims against
Samsung focus on Galaxy's design features, such as
the look of its screen icons, the lawsuit said.

John Jackson, an analyst with CCS Insight, said
Samsung is essentially Apple's only real tablet
competitor at this stage. "It's clear that they do
not intend to let Apple run away with the
category," Mr Jackson said.

The lawsuit, filed on Friday, alleges Samsung
violated Apple's patents and trademarks.

"This kind of blatant copying is wrong," Apple
spokeswoman Kristin Huguet said in a statement.

Samsung said it would respond to the legal action
"through appropriate legal measures to protect our
intellectual property".

"Samsung's development of core technologies and
strengthening our intellectual property portfolio
are keys to our continued success," it said in a
statement.

Steve Jobs, Apple chief executive, has criticised
Samsung and other rivals in presentations of new
products or technology debates. Analysts say
Samsung's response to this has been muted, partly
because Apple was Samsung's second-biggest
customer last year after Sony.

Apple brought in around 6.2 trillion won (£3.5bn)
of sales to Samsung in 2010 mainly by purchasing
semiconductors, according to Samsung's annual
report.

"This is more like a symbolic move by Apple that
it is quite serious about rivals advancing and it
is trying to hold back its close competitors,"
said John Park, an analyst at Daishin Securities
in Seoul. "Samsung is unlikely to respond
aggressively given that Apple is its core client
in the component business."

To better compete with Apple, Samsung redesigned
within weeks its new 10.1-inch tablet, first
introduced in February, to make it the thinnest in
the category after Apple set the trend with its
iPad 2.


The global smartphone market is expected to grow
58pc this year and Android is set account for 39pc
of the market, while the tablet market is likely
to quadruple to 70m units, according to research
firm Gartner.

Source - The Telegraph

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