End Of Patent War: Samsung Vs Apple

Samsung Apple likely to drop patent war outside US

Arch-rivals Samsung and Apple have decided to drop a series of bitter patent disputes pending in multiple courts outside the United States, the South Korean electronics giant said today.

The two companies have been locked in a prolonged war of legal attrition in close to a dozen countries, with each accusing the other of infringing on various patents related to their flagship smartphone and tablet products.

"Samsung and Apple have agreed to drop all litigation between the two companies outside the United States," Samsung said in a statement.

"This agreement does not involve any licensing arrangements, and the companies are continuing to pursue the existing cases in US courts," it added.

The patent row kicked off in earnest back in 2011, when Apple sued Samsung in a US court, and swiftly went trans-continental with cases being heard in South Korea, Germany, Japan, Italia, the Netherlands, England, France and Australia among others.

The fight will continue in US courts where Apple has accused its South Korean rival of massive and wilful copying of its designs and technology for smartphones and tablets, and has asked for a bar on US sales of Samsung smartphones and tablet computers.

Samsung has counter-claimed that Apple had used some of its technology without permission.

Despite the multiple cases, neither company has managed to land a knockout legal blow against the other, and a number of judges have urged the two giants to settle their differences out of court.

As per Daishin Securities analyst Claire Kim she said that "They have nothing to gain with a prolonged legal battle because the market situation has changed -- no more merit of the old strategy to expand market share through attacks on rivals".

Due to challenges from Chinese and Indian firms, Apple and Samsung will try to maintain their solid status in the premium smartphone market through innovation.

"The two giants are not expected to expand lawsuits in the US because of the pressure to produce attractive new high-end products".

Microsoft bring a civil action against Samsung

Microsoft brings a civil action against Samsung 

Microsoft said Friday it is suing Samsung for threatening to stop paying Microsoft royalties for patents behind the Android operating system.

The two companies came to a deal in September 2011 to cross-license each other's patent portfolios. Samsung wound up paying Microsoft royalties on a series of patents.

Analyst Rick Sherlund of Nomura Securities has estimated royalties on its Android patents bring Microsoft nearly $2 billion a year.

Microsoft, based in Redmond, Washington, says more than 25 companies are licensing the patents, including Samsung, Acer and ZTE, covering roughly 80 percent of the Android-based smartphones sold in the U.S.

Microsoft Corp.'s deputy general counsel said Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. decided to breach its contract after Microsoft announced in September it was acquiring Nokia's devices business.

After initially refusing to pay royalties in the second year of the deal, Samsung made a late payment in November but did not add on interest, according to a redacted copy of the complaint filed in federal court in New York and provided by Microsoft.

The complaint also alleged that Samsung has asked South Korean competition authorities to change the contract to reduce or eliminate its payments to Microsoft.

Samsung said in a statement, "We will review the complaint in detail and determine appropriate measures in response."

Micromax outdoes Samsung And Leads India

Micromax overtakes Samsung as India's Pirmary handset vendor in Q2

Micromax has overhauled Samsung as India's leading handset vendor, capturing 16.6 % market share in the April-June period as against the Korean major's 14.4 %.

The duos were followed by Nokia and Karbonn with 10.9 % and 9.5 % shares respectively in the just ended quarter. In the previous quarter ended March 31, Samsung had controlled the overall market with 16.3 % share followed by Micromax with 13 %.

The overall mobile phone market grew a modest 2 % annually, while the smartphone segment grew 68 %. Falling demand for feature phones, which fell 16 % in the quarter, had weighed on overall sales.

In the smartphone segment, Micromax set its presence with 19 % share but remained the second largest Indian smartphone vendor. Samsung maintained its leadership in this segment with a 25.3 % market share.

A research firm said that Micromax had widened the gap with the third largest smartphone player as the race for the third place is up for grabs with ferocious competition between Karbonn, Motorola, Celkon, Nokia, Apple and Sony.

On Micromax's performance in the second quarter, Neil Shah, research director, Devices & Ecosystems at Counterpoint Research said, "This is the vendor which mobile industry will have to keep an eye on as it expands beyond domestic markets."

"The surprise recital was from Motorola thanks to its attractive but leaner portfolio of Moto X/G/E and go-to-market strategy. The brand which could soon be part of Lenovo has built a strong base in the high volume India smartphone market, entering the top five rankings surpassing Nokia, Apple, Sony and others," Shah said.

Karbonn is presently the third largest smartphone vendor with 5.9 % market share, followed by the resurgent Motorola, which grasped a significant 4.3 % share in the quarter, riding on the success of Moto E and Moto G smartphones.

Micromax also became the leading feature phone supplier overtaking Nokia for the first time with 15.2 % market share, while Nokia had 14.7 % market share at the end of the second quarter. Karbonn, Samsung and Lava held 11.4 %, 8.5 % and 7.3 % feature phone market share, respectively.

Globally, Micromax also jumped up the rankings becoming the 10th largest handset brand in terms of mobile phone shipment volumes, the research firm said.

"We will see intensified competition in the Indian smartphone space as Asian OEMs such as Xiaomi, Gionee, Huawei and Asus enter with premium-like hardware at an aggressive price-point attracting young tech-savvy but price-conscious urban buyers," Shah said.

"However, these brands will have to work hard on their brand awareness, distribution and service network to continue the growth beyond the early spike in demand in this very important mobile phone market".