Tablets become Ground Zero of Technology Wars as Smartphone becomes Samsung and Apple Duopoly

Its been a while since Technology Wars were written about in greenworldinvestor . However we could not stop ourselvers into writing about the biggest Technology War currently taking place publicly between Samsung and Apple.

Tablets become Ground Zero of Technology Wars as Smartphone becomes  Samsung and Apple Duopoly

Consolidation in the technology market is creating Technology Behemoths competing in large parts of the technology spectrum. Microsoft is entering the  tablet market with Surface  to counter its prime competitor  Google which recently launched the Nexus Table. It will also go head to head  with Apple another one of its competitors in the MP3 player and PC market. Its interesting that Microsoft is launching tablets to protect its turf in other technology area. The Technology War between these Behemoths is now being fought on multiple levels and segments. The tablet market is seeing the largest number of players fighting it out for consumer mind share. The list has every major technology company – HP, RIMM, Apple, HTC, Nokia, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, Google, Microsoft, Dell, Acer.

Earlier Smartphones were the Ground Zero of the Technology Wars but now the battleground has shifted into Tablets as Apple and Samsung have decisively moved ahead of the others in Smartphones.

Apple & Samsung over Tablets

Apple vs. Samsung has been one of the most debated topics in the minds of people for now. As technology and consumer products major Samsung airs TV ads poking fun at those who eagerly waited for the launch of iPhone5 by the world’s most innovative and successful company Apple Inc., the legal shots between the companies continue. It’s been almost over a month when the California jury recommended Samsung pay over $1 billion in damages to Apple for patent infringement whereas the judge lifted the ban on Samsung’s most innovative product Galaxy Tab 10.1. The titanic tussle between the two tech giants continues and has led to one of the biggest penalties for patent violations in legal history.

The patent-related lawsuits have been turning into tsunami issues for the entire tech industry. The patents which are actually meant to safeguard and cover the look and feel of devices are increasingly being “weaponised” by their holders. Such tussle over the patent infringement issues has compelled the juries to award huge damages in intellectual-property dispute and penalize companies for that matter in order to safeguard and implement a law against violation of such issues in future. The legal battle between Samsung and Apple is also intriguing because the archenemies work closely together.

Apple & Samsung over Smartphones

Samsung happens to be one of the biggest suppliers of components such as memory chips for Apple’s gadgets but the company manufactured phones and tablets have always used the free android based operating system provided by tech giant Google which compete head-on with Apple’s iPhones and iPad tablets. Apart from tablets, smartphone arena is also not left behind by the two rivals. The tension between the firms has grown manifold with the increased penetration of smartphone in the world. Statistics show that Android based Samsung phones are capturing the market at a higher pace than the Apple products. This not only leads apple into an endangered area but also threatens about its OS being completely washed off the market. Around 40% of the people globally use Android based phones and the android user base has increased manifold as compared to Apple’s iOS.

The fight between the two companies had been brewing for some time and was supposedly a litmus test for Apple’s determination to thwart the progress of Android, an operating system marketed by search engine giant Google Inc. As a matter of fact Apple Inc. has not sued Google for the fact that the company distributes its Android operating system free of cost and doesn’t earn profit directly from sharing the OS while sharing the same with the phone manufacturers. Samsung which chose Android as its Operating system is now making huge revenues upon which the counter party Apple calculate damages as Samsung is known to be the world leader for the Android based products.

Different Court Rulings regarding Apple & Samsung Battle

Apple bombarded a list of lawsuits against its rival around the world, claiming that Samsung’s devices breach various patents held by the company. Across many cases being heard over many a places across the worlds between the two companies, a court in South Korea said both firms were guilty of patent violations against the other and banned some of their devices from sale in the country. On the contrary owing to the fact that America is known to be the world’s largest market for consumer electronics, such ruling by the Californian court would have resulted in a greater impact for the company, tech industry, US economy and the global economy at large thus leading the jury in San Jose to conclude Samsung’s violation of Apple’s several utility patents. Some of the things covered under the patents breaching by Samsung included:

• Bounce-back scrolling (which makes on-screen icons and web pages rebound if swiped too far
• Tap-to-zoom functionality (Makes it easy to zero in on).

Apart from the utility the court also ruled that the South Korean company has copied the look and design of iPhone which includes the rounded corners of icons, thus breaching Apple’s design patents as well. Adding fuel to the fire the jurors also tossed out the South Korean firm’s claims which stated Apple ripping off some of the company’s own innovations.

Does Samsung Win?

It is said that the mobile phone company Samsung is willing to change the design of their phones to sell in America whereas the same design shall continue for the rest of the world. Analysts also declared tech giant Samsung as the winner of the patent case as for a minimal amount which is to be paid by Samsung as penalty to Apple, it is successful in capturing the market share making itself the market mover in the industry. Thus small price paid for copying stuff has helped the company reap huge benefits for coming many years and helped become a powerhouse in mobile devices segment. On the contrary for many the result of the case could also spark a new round of innovation in the long run, as firms would definitely try to protect themselves and their offerings from the rival Apple Inc. The patents war between the two tech giants is not yet over and is expected to get fiercer in days to come.

Patrick Moorhead, the world famous Tech industry analyst, said “Samsung views Apple as a threat to their long-term survival and will do what it takes weaken them. Samsung will spend billions to do this as their company is under attack.”

Despite being the fact that public does not follow the legal dispute, Samsung has taken up the entire advertising medium to push its Galaxy S III over Apple’s new iPhone 5. One cannot just escape ads be it print media or the video ad space all over, Samsung has made it felt everywhere and its rightly said “Ultimately there’s no avoiding the war”.

Also Read on GWI:

Apple facing threats from Chinese domestic Technology Companies

Read Step by Step How Apple is killing Personal Computers and Win Intel Duopoly along with HP, Dell

Mobile Phone Companies in India