Apple CEO Tim Cook disagreed with Steve Jobs over suing Samsung
A new profile of the love-hate relationship between Apple and Samsung details how the tech heavyweights springboarded off each other to emerge as the two dominant forces in the ongoing mobile computing revolution, while also disclosing that Apple CEO Tim Cook didn't share the same views as late company co-founder Steve Jobs in pursuing Samsung legally.
The two companies have been engaged in an international litigation since Apple filed suit in April 2011, alleging that Samsung's smartphone and tablet designs were largely copied from the iPhones and iPads that preceded them. Since then, the case has spread to courts in Europe, Asia and Australia. Cook, worried about the critical supplier relationship, was opposed to suing Samsung. But Jobs had run out of patience, suspecting that Samsung was counting on the supplier relationship to shield it from retribution.
But the modern day ties between Apple and Samsung were actually forged in a partnership back in 2005, when Apple was seeking out a stable supplier of massive quantities of flash memory. Jobs and Co. were betting the company on iPod Shuffle, iPod nano, and forthcoming iPhone designs that would forgo traditional hard disk drives with moving parts for solid-state versions based on NAND flash chips.
It was a time when the memory market was extremely unstable, and the Cupertino-based company wanted to assure that it was working with a supplier that was rock-solid financially, people familiar with the relationship told Retuers. And Samsung was already controlling half of the NAND flash memory market at that time.
The partnership gave Apple and Samsung insight into each other's strategies and operations. In particular, Samsung's position as the sole supplier of iPhone processors gave it valuable data on just how big Apple thought the smartphone market was going to be.
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As for Apple, it reaped the benefit of Samsung's heavy investments in research and development, tooling equipment and production facilities. Samsung spent $21 billion (23 trillion won) on capital expenditures in 2012 alone, and plans to spend a similar amount this year.
Within years, however, the relationship would stumble upon its share of turmoil as Samsung began gaining market share with its family of Galaxy devices that Jobs felt were largely aped off the innovations and hard work over at Apple.
When face-to-face meetings between Jobs and Samsung's top brass delivered little confidence that the Korean electronics maker would alter its designs to avoid further dispute, Jobs' strategy turned to the "thermo-nuclear" legal war that has been playing out in public courthouses across the world for the past 18 months.
But as Retuers reveals for the first time publicly, Tim Cook -- then Jobs' Chief Operating Officer and CEO in grooming -- would not necessarily have taken the same direction:
Tim Cook, Jobs' successor as Apple chief executive, was opposed to suing Samsung in the first place, according to people with knowledge of the matter, largely because of that company's critical role as a supplier of components for the iPhone and the iPad. Apple bought some $8 billion worth of parts from Samsung last year, analysts estimate.
Court document from the Apple v. Samsung jury trial.
Apple was initially awarded a billion-dollar jury verdict against Samsung in Europe last August in a decision that appeared as if it would have sweeping influence in courts across the world. But Apple has recently faced trouble convincing U.S. courts to uphold those bands because the sheer success of the iPhone has made it difficult for the company to show any hard evidence of irreparable harm at the hands of Samsung. "Whoever controls flash is going to control this space in consumer electronics," Jobs said at the time, according to a source familiar with the discussions.
With the litigation slowly grinding to what Retuers has dubbed a 'stalemate,' Apple is moving to reduce its reliance on Samsung in the areas of manufacturing, while Samsung is focusing on its strategy of deploying its overly-broad range of mobile devices and creating memorable TV advertisements that mock the iPhone maker.
All that aside, however, Reuters cites people familiar with the matter who say the legal proceedings between the two sides have been "less poisonous to the relationship than some of the rhetoric suggests."
Comments
Quote:
Originally Posted by AppleInsider
Apple was initially awarded a billion-dollar jury verdict against Samsung in Europe last August ...
Europe?
True, many people think California is different from most states, but I'm pretty sure that right now it's still part of the USA.
Seriously, thanks for the article.
I wish people would stop repeating the "thermonuclear" thing. The whole narrative around the lawsuits has been based on this one angry comment attributed to Steve Jobs in Isaacson's biography. We know from the lawsuits that Apple's goal was licensing with a no-cloning clause. That's what they gave Microsoft prior to the lawsuits. That's what they offered Samsung before suing them. That's what they got HTC to agree to in a settlement. They sued to get the licensing terms they wanted. What the ridiculous "thermonuclear" narrative does is set up a situation where Apple cannot win.
Originally Posted by poke
What the ridiculous "thermonuclear" narrative does is set up a situation where Apple cannot win.
Oh, they can certainly win it. They would be in the media if people would stop being paid by other companies to suppress the truth.
No, I don't have any proof of that. But YOU (not you, poke, third-person plural 'you') come up with a better explanation for the negative spin that has flown in the face of established fact ever since this crap started.
Never heard of 'em.
oh. Maybe they mean Reuters?
Great journalism. This really give a lot of confidence in what was written in the article.
Tim realizes now those private conversations with Steve that were far more explitive were spot on.
TSMC, Global Foundries, FOXConn are all in to help Apple out, not to mention Micron, Qualcomm, Broadcom and others to leave Samsung with not a single dime of contracts from Apple.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mdriftmeyer
TSMC, Global Foundries, FOXConn are all in to help Apple out, not to mention Micron, Qualcomm, Broadcom and others to leave Samsung with not a single dime of contracts from Apple.
That's the best solution, getting critical parts from other suppliers.
But even that approach will only delay slightly Samsung's copying!
Sounds like Cook wants peace between the two companies. Might be a good thing, on fair terms. Samsung will always be a tough competitor.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hypercommunist
Samsung will always be a tough competitor.
When/if Samsung develops software capabilities and an ecosystem to match Apple's, then they'll be a tough competitor.
Originally Posted by hypercommunist
Samsung will always be a tough competitor.
Maybe they should start competing, then, instead of stealing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LovejoyOne
Who is/are Retuers?
Never heard of 'em.
oh. Maybe they mean Reuters?
Great journalism. This really give a lot of confidence in what was written in the article.
Lighten up Dude...if you want perfection, you may have to visit another site.
Now Apple is free to pursue other suppliers, but unless Samsung is found to have a monopoly on a key component (i.e. flash memory) they will likely not be constrained by the courts.
While Steve Jobs may have been driven by passion and anger over Samsung copying Apple's designs, Tim Cook had to ensure a stable supply chain so that Apple can get their products into the hands of customers in both a timely manner AND at a competitive price. As such, he would be VERY wary of suing one of Apple's largest and most important suppliers.
Quote:
Originally Posted by iSteelers
And yet Tim did not drop the suit after he became CEO and after Jobs died. And they initially won the suit to boot. High ranking executives disagree all the time but band together and put a united front outwardly, so not sure why this is news.
Assuming there is any truth to this story it's possible that Tim wasn't opposed per se but didn't feel it was worth risking the supplier relationship and Steve countered that Samsung was likely counting on that view. So they were going to sue and Tim, as the logistics guy, was going to find them some other suppliers. Tim looked at the situation, found some alternate companies ready to talk, and all objections started to fade away.
which is why he didn't pull Apples initiated suits the moment he could. And has possibly filed a few more
Quote:
Originally Posted by poke
What the ridiculous "thermonuclear" narrative does is set up a situation where Apple cannot win.
I assume the situation you refer to is one of PR. If Apple doesn't win 100% on all design cases then yeah they could come off as aise hats and whiners in 'the court of public opinion'. And have.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallest Skil
Oh, they can certainly win it. They would be in the media if people would stop being paid by other companies to suppress the truth.
No, I don't have any proof of that. But YOU (not you, poke, third-person plural 'you') come up with a better explanation for the negative spin that has flown in the face of established fact ever since this crap started.
so..........there is some broad range conspiracy against Apple? Are you serious? Apple is the media darling......just about every TV show has a Apple device featured. If there is a piece of technology in the segment then it is an Apple product. So who is doing all the negative towards Apple? Can you give examples?
Apple has the mindshare and attention of all the sectors it chooses to compete in..... The whole TV industry was in a panic when they thought Apple was making a TV.....the news media loved it. Apple gets more positive press than any other company. Who uses Apple products the most? Creative types like TV writers..editors...producers....actors.....news anchors. All the people you say are giving them negative press? Please explain.....
Quote:
Originally Posted by anantksundaram
When/if Samsung develops software capabilities and an ecosystem to match Apple's, then they'll be a tough competitor.
Agreed!
Originally Posted by geekdad
so..........there is some broad range conspiracy against Apple? Are you serious?
So Apple has NOTHING but GOOD things said about them in the media? Are you serious?
So who is doing all the negative towards Apple? Can you give examples?
Stop playing dumb.
Apple gets more positive press than any other company.
Citation needed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallest Skil
So Apple has NOTHING but GOOD things said about them in the media? Are you serious?
Stop playing dumb.
Citation needed.
so your defense is........???? you always do this TS....you make outlandish comments with no proof! You make statements that are just opinion and present them as fact! Just look at my signature.....yeah you still sticking to those statements too?
EVERYONE knows there is NO negative press at Apple.......you know it too! So if there is soooo much negativity about Apple....it really hurts their bottom line huh? they are really hurting to make money huh? can you address that? they are the most highly profitable companies in the world selling products amid all that negativity huh? Yeah right! If Apple has all this negative press show me some! Show me how they can survive this conspiracy you say exists. Apple dominates every product category they choose to compete in.......
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallest Skil
So Apple has NOTHING but GOOD things said about them in the media? Are you serious?
Stop playing dumb.
Citation needed.
OMG...did you delete my last post??? It somehow disappeared! LOL OMG!