Samsung executive: No plans to settle with Apple
While handset maker HTC has decided to settle all its legal disputes with Apple, setting up a 10-year licensing agreement, Samsung has indicated that it has no intentions of caving in to the Cupertino, Calif.-based technology giant.
Speaking to Yonhap News, Shin Jong-kyun, head of Samsung's mobile and IT division, made it clear that there was no chance of a similar settlement.
"It may be true that HTC may have agreed to pay 300 billion won ($276.6m) to Apple, but we don't intend to at all."
Samsung and Apple have been involved in bitter patent wars in four continents since April 2011.
In August, a court ruled that Samsung had to pay Apple more than $1 billion in damages for infringing on a number of iPhone and iPad features with its Galaxy S series of smartphones. Samsung has appealed against the ruling.
In other territories Apple has not enjoyed the same legal success, with courts in the Netherlands and Japan dismissing Cupertino's claims of infringement by Samsung.
Very few details have been revealed relating to the Apple--HTC deal, but there is speculation that HTC will pay Apple between $6 and $8 per handset sold -- a deal that will see Apple pull in between $180 million--$280 million a year -- a drop in the ocean for Apple, but a clear indication that Apple is more than willing to settle, as long as the price is right.
Earlier this month market research firm Strategy Analytics released a report suggesting that Samsung's Galaxy S III ousted Apple's iPhone 4S as best-selling smartphone.
Image credit: CNET.