Hypothetical $$$ win for Apple

[v-600]

What would the repercussions be? Would another company just replace them as a competitor to Apple and if so, what is the point of huge lawsuits?

Rather than discuss the relative merits of each phone, I sat in a coffee shop wondering what would it take for Samsung to eventually say "F*** it, its not worth the hassle of selling phones in the US".

At this point look at the thread title - Hypothetical - and remember that this isn't actually the case. I don't think many companies just pull out of a market through choice, but why not? If there are easier pickings elsewhere, why not?

How big a win would that take? I assume something higher than samsungs net profits from its phone division, or would that be enough? Samsung don't just make phones.

Would people just privately import phones if they were no longer available, and they were desperate for samsungs. Would there be any new precedents set as successful ways of doing business and suing your competition out of the market becomes the norm?

Just wondering was all

 

[tommo123]

i can't imagine android users stepping over to the dark side and joining apple. unless you only use facebook/whatsapp etc (in which case it doesn't matter which phone you have really) then the feel of the system is very different.

especially for power users. they'll just use other android phones.

 

[JoLLyRoGer]

HTC?

 

[SMOGZINN]

What would the repercussions be? Would another company just replace them as a competitor to Apple and if so, what is the point of huge lawsuits?

Of course there would be other competitors, but none of them would approach Samsung's success. So it would be a net win for Apple.

Rather than discuss the relative merits of each phone, I sat in a coffee shop wondering what would it take for Samsung to eventually say "F*** it, its not worth the hassle of selling phones in the US".

It would take either the price of doing business in America to be higher then the profit for doing so, or the risk being proportional to the reward. If Samsung lost the case totally, it might very well be that the risk is too great.

I don't think many companies just pull out of a market through choice, but why not? If there are easier pickings elsewhere, why not?

Because profit. You only pull out when that is the more profitable option, and it very rarely is.

How big a win would that take? I assume something higher than samsungs net profits from its phone division, or would that be enough? Samsung don't just make phones.

No matter how big the verdict they would only pull their phone division out. There is no point in abandoning other markets.

Would people just privately import phones if they were no longer available, and they were desperate for samsungs.

Yes. There would be a grey market for samsung phones. But there would also be other phones made.

Would there be any new precedents set as successful ways of doing business and suing your competition out of the market becomes the norm?

Unfortunately, there already is. The current US patent laws were tailored by large corporations to be used as weapons to combat their competition. It is much more efficient then competing with them in the marketplace.

The real question is what would it take to NOT infringe on an Apple patent? Is it even possible?

 

[Rakehellion]

What would the repercussions be? Would another company just replace them as a competitor to Apple and if so

Samsung isn't going anywhere. Even if they did, a dozen other phone manufacturers would take their place. Some people would switch to iPhone, some people would switch to Windows Mobile, some would switch to Xperia or whatever. Nothing would change dramatically.

what is the point of huge lawsuits?

To protect your intellectual property. They aren't necessarily trying to bankrupt Samsung, but if a person wants feature X or Y, they'll have to buy an iPhone to get it. The lawsuits are for damages associated with someone buying a Galaxy instead of an iPhone.

You can only sue for damages, not revenge.

unless you only use facebook/whatsapp etc

That's 90% of smartphone users. People switch back and forth between phone OSes all the time.

 

[v-600]

As part of the ongoing coffee shop discussion that made me start wondering all of this came a question of how much is too much. I'm approaching this from a British perspective (as I am, and this was how the conversation went) but I'm sure the general gist will translate.

Generally in the UK software isn't patentable, but it is protected by copyright law. As far as I know neither company (google nor apple) sell their software, certainly not apple who push out free updates to all their users. They sell a phone/you buy the phone, get the software free. I can download either touchwiz/android or ios for nothing.

So if something is handed out to you, for free, and someone else hands it out to you for free, is there any money lost? I would argue no (or that both companies already deliver software at a loss, and make up for it with other areas of their business). In which case, how can you sue for damages if you've not been damaged?

 

[tommo123]

because the software is the draw to buy the hardware and into their ecosystem

 

[sm625]

Any money apple wins will only be used to buy back their own stock to cover up the loss of real EPS as more and more people realize they do NOT need to spend $1200 a year to have a viable smartphone experience. There is very little someone with a $100 a month aaple induced phone bill can do that I cant do with my $150 phone and its $10 a month plan. I dont have the exact numbers but I think many apple users might even pay more money in taxes and fees than I do for my entire bill. It is going to take more than patent games to keep the sheep coming back for that.

 

[Rakehellion]

more and more people realize they do NOT need to spend $1200 a year to have a viable smartphone experience.

Ha. Keep dreaming. That number is becoming less and less.