Before the lawyers, Jobs’ peace overture rebuffed
Apple has gotten a lot of bad press for its litigious ways. Whereas no one doubts that Cupertino invented the smartphone and tablet, people have faulted the company for fighting its product battles in court versus letting nature take its course in the marketplace. But that’s not the whole picture.
The Next Web reports that, before Apple filed suit against perhaps their most-important Asian idevice component supplier, Steve Jobs reached out to the company in an effort to head off litigation.
According to a MarketWatch release, Apple and Samsung were back in a Sydney courtroom to give evidence over an injunction that could see the ban of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 device in Australia. During the meeting, senior Apple executive Richard Lutton said that Jobs moved to quell tempers between the companies because of the close supplier relationship they held.
“The discussions started with contact from (Jobs), and then he wasn’t involved in meetings beyond that,” senior Apple executive Richard Lutton told the Federal Court in Sydney when cross-examined by Samsung attorney David Catterns.
What Jobs or his lieutenants did before sending in the lawyers isn’t stated, but it’s telling that Samsung, which supplies processors and LCDs for the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch, ignored the overture.
Tilting at the tablet leader
With Amazon’s relaunch of its Kindle tablet line, Samsung’s quixotic legal fight against may be all for nought. Honestly, if they’re still in the market at this time next year, I will be greatly surprised.
In the meantime, we get to watch judge after judge around world side with Apple, blocking the sale of Samsung devices until they alter their designs so that they don’t blatantly copy the iPad…
What’s your take?
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September 30th, 2011
Actually, anybody with half a brain knows that Apple didn’t invent the smart phone or the tablet, what they did do is popularise the tablet and popularise the touch only phone. Big difference. As for Samsung not being in the tablet market in a years time – that is some seriously deluded wishful thinking.
October 1st, 2011
@Rimmer
How the rim was it painful the first time.
October 1st, 2011
@ Rimmer
Apple re-defined the smartphone market as it is today. Android devices are all iPhone/iPad clones. Anyone with half a brain can look up what the tablet market was like before the iPad & what “smartphones” were before the iPhone. They looked & worked nothing like the iPad/iPhone. Now they all do.
October 1st, 2011
@JS
HURR DURR DURRR DURRR
That is what you actually believe.
October 1st, 2011
True. After the patent smackdown is over it’s going to be harder for Samsung to simply copy everyone and avoid the legal minefields. It’s back to the drawing board for Samsung.
October 6th, 2011
Yes, everyone will be using all those 7″ iPads.
Apple also invented dirt, air and sex.