Samsung and Apple are embroiled in 23 different lawsuits. Some over patents, some over designs, some just because a Samsung employee told an Apple employee a Yo Mama joke that was so offensive that lawyers had to be called in and handle the situation. After Apple’s success at getting the Samsung Galaxy Tab banned in several countries, Samsung is looking to give Apple a taste of their own medicine by getting the next generation iPhone banned in South Korea. Check out what an unnamed “Senior Executive from Samsung Electronics” told the folks at The Korea Times:
“Just after the arrival of the iPhone 5 here, Samsung plans to take Apple to court here for its violation of Samsung’s wireless technology related patents. For as long as Apple does not drop mobile telecommunications functions, it would be impossible for it to sell its i-branded products without using our patents. We will stick to a strong stance against Apple during the lingering legal fights.”
To understand why this is important, look at what Samsung CEO Choi Gee-sung (pictured above) said about Apple’s relationship with his company:
“Apple is Samsung’s biggest customer. Hewlett-Packard (HP), Nokia and Sony were Samsung’s previous big clients, however, Apple is now a primary one. From our perspective, we are not entirely happy about the litigations.”
Apple is Samsung’s biggest client. For everything from screens, to memory chips, to processors, without Samsung you could say that there would be no iPhone. Now yes, Samsung’s products do look a bit like Apple’s iOS devices, but there’s only so much differentiating you can do when you’re talking about a piece of glass with a headphone jack and a power button on top. We have a sneaking suspicion that Apple is stirring up all this trouble so that they can get cheaper prices on Samsung components. If that’s true, then shame on Apple. Samsung pours billions in R&D to invent the technology that many companies, like Apple, use to build innovative software and services on top of. Without Samsung’s advances in memory and screen technology, where would the mobile industry be?