Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy Tab 10.1By Kim Yoo-chul
Samsung Electronics said Tuesday it will continue to sell its 10.1-inch tablet PCs ? Galaxy Tab ? in the United States despite an appeals court’s ruling Tuesday that revived Apple’s bid to bar the sales of Galaxy Tab there.
Samsung, the world’s biggest technology company by revenue, simply downplayed the effects of the ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit for the sale of its tablets and stressed the company will push its distribution channels to sell the devices.
The court ruled Monday that Apple could push for its bid for an immediate injunction to bar the sale of some tablet computers made by Samsung Electronics. It sent the case back to the district count for further review.
``The decision doesn’t mean that Samsung should stop selling the Tabs, immediately. This isn’t a preliminary injunction,’’ said Samsung said in a statement.
``We don’t think the latest ruling from the United States is unfavorable for us. We will prove that Apple’s claims are totally groundless by using all our legal power. Samsung will keep our intellectual properties,’’ according to the statement.
This isn’t the first time that the Cupertino-based Apple tried to block the sale of the Samsung tablet, with a previous case in Germany, which led to Samsung modifying the tablet and another in Australia.
Earlier, a German court made a favorable ruling to Apple. Shortly after, Samsung changed the bezel, location of speaker grills and name of the original Galaxy Tab 10.1 as part of its strategy to avoid the injunction in Germany.
It’s uncertain whether Apple will demand an immediate block on Samsung tablet sales.
If Apple presses for a ban, that could be seen as a signal that it will continue litigation against Samsung. But if Apple holds off, it could imply that Apple is willing to compromise with Samsung, ending the patent war.
Apple spokesman Steve Park declined to comment on the issue.
Since last year, Samsung has been engaged in a legal battle with Apple in 10 different countries and 30 different cases after Apple claimed that Samsung copied the design of Apple’s iPhones and iPads.
Although Samsung was late in the market for smartphones, the Korean company rose to become the world’s biggest smartphone maker last year thanks to Samsung’s undeniable competitive edge in manufacturing.
Samsung has confirmed that its Chief Executive Choi Gee-sung will meet Apple CEO Tim Cook on May 21 in a San Francisco courtroom to discuss a possible patent settlement.
If the companies fail to reach an agreement, the case will proceed to trial in late July, according to Samsung officials. A Samsung spokeswoman declined discussing the possibilities of the settlement, however, added there could be some breakthrough from the top meeting.
``We call Samsung’s current `mass customization’ strategy is far better than Apple’s `single customization’ strategy as the market for smartphones is booming. Therefore, chances are low that Apple will press its ban on Samsung tablets,’’ said Lee Sae-chul, an analyst at Meritz Securities.
Lee said Apple has stronger intent to sign a peace treaty in order to collect royalties from Samsung as early as possible as Apple’s top management believes a continued fight with Samsung is only going to hurt its business strategy.
The local brokerage said Samsung will continue its status as the world’s top smartphone vendor in the second quarter thanks to Samsung’s expanded product lineup.
Likewise, Apple is soon to release its next iPhone, which may or may not be the iPhone 5, in the latter half of this year, according to officials.
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