Samsung's Galaxy Tab banned by German court: Pulled from IFA tech show
Samsung will not promote the new Galaxy Tab at one of the world's largest technology shows in Berlin, after a German court came down on the side of Apple, which successfully argued for an injunction against sales and marketing of the device in Germany.
The new Galaxy Tab 7.7 was also banned by a court injunction, along with the Galaxy Tab 10.1, which fell afoul of the German courts late last month.
A court in Dusseldorf ordered the company to stop selling the Galaxy Tab 7.7, on the first day of the IFA electronics show -- one of the biggest tech fairs in the world.
Samsung is to "respect the court order", according to Samsung spokesperson James Chung.
Apple claims that Samsung infringed its patents in the Galaxy line of smartphones and tablets, arguing that Samsung copied the design and aesthetics of Apple's iOS range of devices.
Samsung counter-sued Apple, stating that Apple infringed patents relating to wireless networking.
The ongoing patent battle forced Samsung into delaying tablet sales in Australia twice, as the patent battle spread across Europe, the United States and further afield to Asia and Australia.
The patent spat will force Samsung, the biggest Android vendor on the market, to restrict sales of Google's mobile operating system.
While Samsung has not disclosed the number of tablets it has sold, it aims to increase sales by more than five-fold this year. Samsung had just over 15 percent tablet marketshare, behind Apple's 69 percent, according to Strategy Analytics.
Apple continues its dominance, partly by popular sales of its iPhone and iPad devices, taking a majority stake in the tablet and smartphone market, and partly by legal force.
However, as asserted late last month, with Tim Cook leading Apple as the new chief-executive, Cook has a number of difficulties to face in the post-Jobs era.
Not only as his first major challenge, did he have to combat the release of an iPhone 5 prototype that went missing in a bar last week, but he also has to deal with the mass of lawsuits that Apple is currently undertaking.
As Android seems to be the target, not necessarily the devices that run the rival mobile operating system, could the handsets and tablets be the focus of Apple's lawsuits because Google is too big to crush?
Tim Cook has to make a strong and clear decision. Continue with the lawsuits left by his predecessor, or make the Cupertino giant a competitive and fair environment for others to compete with.
Instead of "slam, slam, beat, kill" as Apple's motto, surely it should be, "we have awesome products; we can beat you on that alone"?
And the world would be a slightly nicer place.
But after 13 years by Jobs' side, very little will change in the overall atmosphere of Apple. The corporate entity still remains, and the lawsuits will keep-a-coming, as Apple tries to hold onto its dominant marketshare.
Just as Apple continues to develop its products, and slamming Android as its main competitor in the user statistics, Apple is also winning in the courts.
Though Cook is not Jobs, Apple is still Apple.
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