Samsung offers Apple a secret deal in Australia

9to5 Staff | Sep 30 2011 - 5:37 am PT

According to the Wall Street Journal, Samsung has offered Apple a secret deal to sort out the mess surrounding the Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet launch in Australia. The report has it that Samsung proposed a cunning solution that would allow them to release the device in the country next week. Apple’s legal counsel Stephen Burley allegedly told Justice Annabelle Bennett that Samsung’s “inconvenience would be diminished and we would be comforted” if the deal was accepted.

What incentive Samsung might have in store for Apple in exchange for releasing its tablet in Australia as early as next week is anyone’s guess. I asked patent expert Florian Mueller, who runs the FOSSPatents blog, about this. He responded on Twitter that Samsung “might promise not to infringe certain patents, make a payment, and perhaps also procedural concessions”.

As you know, Apple is seeking a ban on the Galaxy Tab 10.1 sales in Australia, arguing its Korean rival will launch the device on the market “with the velocity of a fire hose”, which will take away iPad 2 sales so quickly that buyers may be “seduced” from the iOS platform. The iPhone maker sold an estimated 500,000 iPads in Australia. The full hearing (which won’t affect other Samsung tablets) is expected later this year and Justice Bennett is expected to rule on a temporary injunction related to the Galaxy Tab 10.1 device next week.