Samsung

FOSS Patents is reporting that Apple received two more favourable rulings in their ongoing battle against Samsung in the courts. These judgements increase the chance of Apple winning the March patent trial “not hugely but significantly”, according to Mueller.

In a judgement filed yesterday, Samsung was found to infringe on one of Apple’s asserted patents and one of its own patents in the case was invalidated.

Analysts estimate Apple sold 55.3M iPhones last quarter, up 16 percent

Ben Lovejoy Jan 20 2014 - 3:59 am PT

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With Apple due to report its earnings a week from today, Fortune has run its usual roundup on the numbers analysts are predicting.

The consensus among the 44 analysts we’ve heard from so far — 27 professionals and 17 amateurs — is unit sales of 55.3 million iPhones, up 16% from the same quarter last year.

It’s a near-certainty the numbers will be high …
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Smartphone sales expected to fall for the first time in two years

Ben Lovejoy Jan 17 2014 - 5:12 am PT

TrendForce is predicting that total worldwide smartphone sales will fall by around five percent in the first quarter of this year. If so, this will be the first fall in two years.

It doesn’t mean demand for smartphones is actually dropping, but rather than the upward trend has slowed to the point that the seasonal effect – people buying smartphones as holiday gifts – is now bigger than the overall growth rate.

Apple and Samsung of course maintain their lead, though Sony saw significant growth in its home territory of Japan, and LG’s share grew 57 percent year-on-year to a 4.2 percent market share thanks largely to sales of the Nexus handsets it makes for Google.

Via re/code

Pegatron will make half of iPhone 6 supplies, says sketchy rumor

Ben Lovejoy Jan 10 2014 - 4:26 am PT

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iPhone 6 concept by Nikola Cirkovic

Pegatron, which currently makes the iPhone 5c and iPad mini, is said to be gearing up to make around half of the production run of the iPhone 6 expected to be launched in the fall. It’s a pretty sketchy rumor, based on an anonymous source cited by Taiwanese site Liberty Times, but it is a plausible one at least.

While Apple has so far relied on Foxconn for the bulk of its manufacturing, it’s no secret that supply-chain maestro Tim Cook has been keen to diversify manufacturing in order to reduce risks, a desire reportedly intensified by quality-control issues at Foxconn. As of last August, work for Apple made up 27 percent of Pegatron’s turnover.

The iPhone 6 is, of course, simply the subject of speculation at present. Rumors so far suggest that the iPhone 6 will have a larger screen (possibly in two sizes, though I remain skeptical about that personally), something our own poll suggested would be popular. A completely unverified pair of photos claims the new phone will be slimmer.

It’s also been said that Apple will stick with an 8MP camera, focusing its attentions on low-light and dynamic range rather than the pixel count. Plus, of course, we have the traditional annual rumor that Apple will shift its chip production from Samsung to TSMC.

While nothing is actually known, there are plenty of concept images around to keep us entertained.

The $50 smartwatch will be here by the summer, says Archos

Ben Lovejoy Jan 9 2014 - 4:19 am PT

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Photo: engadget.com

When a whole new category of technology arrives, you can usually rely on tech-heads to get excited about them even if the mass-market doesn’t. So far, though, smartwatches don’t seem to have made as much headway as many expected. When a confirmed gadget addict like me is left wondering why I’d want one, something somewhere is wrong.

But where functionality hasn’t persuaded many of us, perhaps price will. Archos is planning to launch a basic smartwatch in the summer for just $50, a price it may be hoping will lead people to stop asking ‘Why?’ and instead ask ‘Why not?’.

Don’t expect too much tech for your fifty bucks: what it will buy you is more of a dumbwatch than a smart one. All it will do is relay notifications from your phone and allow you to control music playback. Oh yes, and tell the time. The display, too, is low-tech: a 1.55-inch non-capacitive e-ink screen.

The styling also looks pretty crude. But for $50, it’s almost cheap enough to try one out just to see whether the idea of a smartwatch grabs you.

Archos also plans a color model with 1.8-inch capacitive screen for $100 and an aluminum-cased version for $130, but these won’t be available until later in the year.

Apple and Samsung agree to mediation in latest patent battle

Mike Beasley Jan 8 2014 - 6:23 pm PT

Reuters reports that the CEOs of both Samsung and Apple have agreed to sit down with their lawyers and hash out a settlement in the latest of the never-ending patent suits between the two companies. Legal teams from both companies decided on this course of action earlier this week.

The meeting will take place some time next month, ahead of the actual court proceedings scheduled for March. If the two companies managed to reach a settlement, they could bypass the entire court process, saving both sides of the fight from financial and legal headaches.

9to5Toys Last Call: iOttie iPhone windshield mount $12, tons of app price drops, HP 27″ IPS monitor $355, Blu-rays, HDTVs, more

Jan 2 2014 - 9:50 am PT

Be sure to follow 9to5Toys to keep up with the best gear and deals on the web: Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+ and subscribe to the new Safari push notifications feature.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

Last Call Updates:

Sharp 32″ 1080P LED HDTV display $200, Insignia 32″ 720p LED $150, LG 55″ 1080p Smart HDTV $600 shipped
Amazon Kindle Wifi 6-inch eReader: $50 shipped ($20 off)

Star Wars: The Complete Saga (Episodes I-VI) on Blu-ray $60 (Reg. $140) http://t.co/HAqox7WJd5

— 9to5Toys (@9to5toys) January 2, 2014

iOttie One-Touch iPhone Car Windshield/Dashboard Mount $12 shipped (Reg. $25)

Game/App Deals: Scanner Pro: FREE (Reg. $7), Hotline Miami PS3/PS Vita: $2.50 (Reg. $10), Xbox One games $40, iOS Sonic & All-Stars Racing out now, iOS freebies, 3D Blu-rays, more

HP 27″ LED IPS Monitor w/DisplayPort, Dual-Link DVI & 4-Port USB Hub (refurb): $355 shipped

Other great deals from today:

New! Kingston Digital 120GB V300 2.5″ Solid State Drive $70 shipped (Reg. $194)
New! Free Month of Redbox Instant Streaming + 4 DVD Rentals Free
New! Samsung Galaxy Gear Smart Watch $240 shipped (Reg. $300)
New! Amazon Kindle Wifi 6-inch eReader: $50 shipped ($20 off)

More great deals still alive:

Pad & Quill: $5 off any product
Olloclip 4-in-1 iPhone 5/5s lens kit: $50 shipped (Reg. $70)
Mpow 12000mAh Backup Battery Portable Charger Power Bank $41 shipped (Reg. $66)
Google Nexus 7 (2013) 16GB: $200
Dell ST2421L 24″ 1080P LED Monitor w/HDMI for $110 shipped
OtterBox offers up to 15% off sitewide
HP X2401 24-Inch ultra-thin 1080P LED display with HDMI: $160 shipped

iPhone market share in China more than doubled following 5s and 5c launch

Ben Lovejoy Dec 12 2013 - 5:11 am PT

Data from smartphone market intelligence specialist Counterpoint shows that iPhone market share in China more than doubled between September and October even before launching on the country’s biggest carrier, China Mobile.

Apple’s market share rose from just under 5 percent to 12 percent, taking it from 6th place to 3rd place, behind Samsung and Lenovo …
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Court rejects Samsung’s attempt to ban Apple devices in South Korea over patent infringement

Benjamin Mayo Dec 12 2013 - 2:53 am PT

Reuters is reporting that Samsung’s lawsuit against Apple in South Korea, aiming to ban Apple phones and tablets, has been lost. The case dates back to the patent wars of 2011 where Apple and Samsung sued each for patent infringement other around the world.

Samsung’s claims revolved around messaging and content display. The judge said Apple’s devices do not violate the claims. The court threw out the possibility of a sales ban as well as rejecting damages totalling just under $100,000.

Samsung is currently deciding whether to appeal. Unsurprisingly, Apple was pleased with the decision.

“We are glad the Korean court joined others around the world in standing up for real innovation and rejecting Samsung’s ridiculous claims,” Apple Korea spokesman Steve Park said.

Court denies Samsung’s attempt to stay damages in Apple patent retrial

Mike Beasley Nov 25 2013 - 11:23 pm PT

Last week a jury determined that Samsung violated several of Apple’s smartphone patents, a ruling which resulted in Samsung being faced with hefty fees for damages and lost revenue to Apple. Following the decision, Samsung then filed an emergency motion with the court to stop the payments while the United States Patent and Trademark Office re-evaluates the validity of Apple’s key patent.

Specifically, the Patent Office has issued an advisory that declares the patent on Apple’s “pinch to zoom” gesture invalid. This is the only patent in this case for which Apple can collect damages for lost revenue. Samsung argues that the jury’s decision should also be overturned since Samsung cannot be held liable for violating an invalid patent.

Tonight the court disagreed with Samsung, however, noting that Apple still has several options for appealing the invalidation and reclaiming the patent, at which point the jury’s decision would remain valid. US District Court Judge Koh ruled that the $290 million in damages is to be paid until the final word on the patent’s validity is determined. Only then can Samsung petition for a stay of damages.

Verdict: Apple awarded another $290 million from Samsung in retrial (Updated)

Zac Hall Nov 21 2013 - 11:55 am PT

12 Comments

Reports are coming in from several journalists attending the Apple vs. Samsung re-trial in California that a verdict has been reached. The verdict comes after a few days of the jury deliberating much of the same topic as discussed during the summer 2012 trial. According to a court document, the verdict will be read at approximate 12:15 Pacific time. We’ll have coverage when the verdict is announced.

Update: According to Bloomberg, the jury has ordered that Samsung pay Apple $290 million in damages over the retrial. Including damages awarded Apple in the original trial, that brings Samsung’s total in damages owed to Apple to $890 million.

Samsung accuses Apple’s attorney of racist remark during closing arguments in damages case

Ben Lovejoy Nov 20 2013 - 12:01 am PT

11 Comments

As the retrial to settle the damages in the Apple vs Samsung patents case reaches its closing arguments, Samsung’s lawyer Bill Price accused Apple attorney Harold McElhinny of a racist remark, asking for a mistrial to be declared, reports Bloomberg.

Harold McElhinny, Apple’s attorney, spoke yesterday of his memory as a child of watching television on American-made sets, and how because the manufacturers didn’t protect their intellectual property their products no longer exist. “We all know what happened,” he said at the conclusion of a damages retrial […]

McElhinny was “appealing to race,” Price told the judge. “I thought we were past that.” …
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Android tablet revenue overtakes iPad for first time, but probably not for long

Ben Lovejoy Nov 15 2013 - 5:52 am PT

18 Comments

Total revenue from all Android tablets combined has for the first time exceeded Apple’s revenue for its iPad sales, according to IDC data crunched by Morgan Stanley’s Katy Huberty.

“For the first time,” she wrote in a note to clients Friday, “Android devices accounted for a greater share of the market in revenue terms than iOS. Android revenue share reached 46.2% in 3Q13, for the first time exceeding iPad share of 45.6%. Android’s unit share grew to 66.7% from 58.5% a year ago, largely driven by Samsung and Lenovo, while iPad share declined to 29.7% from 40.2%” …
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iPhone was a “bet the company” product, says Phil Schiller, in opening remarks

Ben Lovejoy Nov 15 2013 - 4:05 am PT

Phil Schiller’s real testimony in the Apple v. Samsung damages trial will come later today, but he put the importance of the iPhone into perspective in his opening remarks yesterday by stating that Apple “bet the company” on it (via CNET).

There were huge risks [with the first iPhone]. We had a saying inside the company that it was a ‘bet-the-company’ product […] We were starting to do well again in iPod […] Then here we’re going to invest all these resources, financial as well as people, in creating this product …
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It’s like déjà vu all over again: Apple vs. Samsung trial kicks off

Jordan Kahn Nov 13 2013 - 12:15 pm PT

7 Comments

After a judge in March invalidated almost half of the $1B verdict Apple won in its patent infringement case against Samsung in August of 2012, another trial would have to take place to determine how much Samsung would actually owe. It still owes Apple the other approximately $600 million in damages pending an appeal, but today the two companies are in court for a retrial to determine how much of the other roughly $400 million in damages Samsung will be responsible for. CNET reports that Apple’s attorney today told the court it wants $380 million in damages from Samsung, slightly less than the original $410 million in vacated damages:

“We will hear a lot from Samsung, saying no one would have purchased Apple products,” McElhinny said. “But in its heart, Samsung knew it was a two-horse race.”

He pointed to an internal Samsung document as “conclusive evidence Apple lost sales because of Samsung.”

“In a fair fight, that money should have gone to Apple,” McElhinny said.

The $380 million number comes from Apple’s calculations of around $114 million in lost profits, $231 in Samsung’s profits, and $35 million in royalties. Apple says Samsung made around $3.5 billion revenue selling 10.7 million infringing devices.
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iOS market share continues to fall, but Apple unlikely to be worried

Ben Lovejoy Nov 12 2013 - 6:57 am PT

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The headline news in the latest IDC stats might look like bad news for Apple: iOS Q3 market share dropped from 14.4 percent last year to 12.9 percent this year. But it’s a number that is unlikely to lead to too many sleepless nights in Cupertino, for four reasons.

First, Apple isn’t competing with most of the Android market, which spans all price-points, only the top end of it. Samsung has been struggling to make money from its flagship handsets, with most of its profits coming from low-end models, while HTC has been in all kinds of trouble. Looking at Apple’s market share in the smartphone market as a whole is the most academic of exercises.

Second, while market share is down, shipments are up: from 26.9M in Q3 last year to 33.8M in the same quarter this year.

Third, for most of Q3 savvy iPhone buyers were holding fire, waiting for the new models Apple launched almost at the end of that quarter. The iPhone 5s and 5c between them notched up a record 9M sales in just the opening weekend. Q4 is where it’s really at …
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Report: GlobalFoundries Apple tie-in not as big a deal as it sounds, might be overflow supply line

Ben Lovejoy Nov 12 2013 - 4:27 am PT

Suggestions that Apple is looking to chipmaker GlobalFoundries to reduce its reliance on Samsung chips are rather wide of the mark, according to sources cited by AllThingsD. The rumors followed a story in the Albany Times Union that Apple might be looking to the Malta, New York, chipmaker to make iPhone and iPad chips.

In the most likely scenario, Samsung will still be the primary manufacturer of Apple’s chips for the iPhone and iPad, they said, continuing the role it has played since the earliest days of the iPhone: Building the chips that Apple designs under contract […]

Samsung will use GlobalFoundries for what is known as “flex capacity.” This is a long-standing industry practice under which a chip manufacturer pays to occasionally use another company’s factories when demand on their own factory is running higher than they would like, and they need a little help …
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Analyst: iTV plans put on hold for wearables debut in 2014

Zac Hall Nov 11 2013 - 8:37 am PT

As evidenced by TV supply chain sources, Apple could be prioritizing wearable technology and delaying a true Apple TV launch during 2014. That’s according to analyst Paul Gagnon of DisplaySearch who believes Apple was positioned to debut a true iTV in the latter half of next year, but has put that plan on hold due to content deals still in development.

For Apple to have a successful television product for the living room, it needs to achieve three goals:

Sell enough units to generate sufficient content purchasing points, especially among households who do not yet own Apple TV set-top boxes.

Offer a unique point of differentiation to capture market share from leading TV manufacturers such as Samsung and Vizio, while at the same time being able to sell the products for a high enough price to deliver typically high Apple margins.

Create follow-on replacement purchases to keep hardware sales from flat-lining once household penetration peaks.
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Beyoncé serenades fan over FaceTime during performance [Video]

Zac Hall Nov 11 2013 - 7:20 am PT

7 Comments

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueW3anV8Cl0]

Despite rapper Jay-Z having been temporarily in bed with Samsung earlier this year, Beyoncé proved herself the better half of the relationship when she voluntarily serenaded a fan over FaceTime at a concert in South Australia recently.

Beyoncé smoothly walked across the stage reaching out to her adoring fans when someone offered their iPhone in mid-FaceTime call.

“This is a first,” she said while taking the iPhone and still performing her song. “Hi. He’s doing FaceTime right now. Nice to meet you.”
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Ten days of iPhone 5s and 5c sales help Apple break 40 percent in U.S. smartphone market

Ben Lovejoy Nov 6 2013 - 5:22 am PT

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Apple’s share of the U.S. smartphone market grew by 0.7 percent in the last quarter to reach 40.6 percent, according to comScore data.

Sales of low-cost handsets mean that Android’s position as leading mobile platform is safe, with a marginal drop to 51.8 percent of the market, but Apple remained top of the vendor rankings …