This decade has seen Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) take the tech world by storm. No doubt about it, Apple has been pushing the frontier of technology and innovation. And they’re tagging along massive loyal followers with their products. But will they always stay this way? Doubtful, if recent statistics on Smartphone sales are any indication.
The battle for tech dominance started way before; but it has taken a new twist with the recent legal battles with Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) going head to head. Now the battle is not confined to the world of technology; it’s become a courtroom spectacle spanning 10 nations with both sides flexing their muscles in a battle over intellectual properties.
Legal Battles Summarized
On August 24, the legal battle between Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) over patents drew worldwide attention when Apple scored the first victory – a victory in the sum of $1 billion in damages. However, the victory was short-lived since that’s about the only real victory Apple can get in succeeding trials. South Korea released its rulings and it was a total cop-out with verdicts that are for and against both companies. And in a true domino effect fashion, other countries like Japan, Germany, UK, and Australia released their own rulings on the same case, with other separate legal battles pending. These rulings are widely seen as victory for Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94).
On top of these losses, it doesn’t help that another tech giant, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), has joined the fray. While Google has vested interest in the success of Samsung, the company remained itself has also taken on Apple when the latter filed the lawsuit. And to cut the story short, Apple lost its lawsuit against Google’s Motorola Mobility. And to add insult to injury, U.K court ordered Apple not only to apologize but to revise its apology originally posted in its website after Apple lost to Samsung. Losing courtroom battles is one thing; being ordered to apologize, retract, and revise its original statement on its website is downright embarrassing.
History Repeating Itself?
If Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) had paid any attention to history, it would’ve realized that engaging in a legal battle is too much of a challenge. Let’s take for example, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer case in 1991. The court reached its verdict in 1999; and that doesn’t even include the appeals. By the time the court released its rulings, Netscape was long gone and Internet Explorer has to face bigger competitions. And that was in the 90s when technological advancement does not happen at the speed of light.
In an era of smartphones where the market is a constantly moving target, Apple seems to be losing its eye on the ball. Being embroiled in lawsuits has definitely taken center stage rather than focusing its efforts on fixing the Map’s app, which was a major disappointment even to Apple’s loyal followers.
Moving Forward
The rest of the tech giants have moved forward with innovations; with Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) partnering with Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) and Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC); all the while trying to take a chunk off the tablet and smartphone market. Several companies are also eyeing cloud computing as the next big trend and doing all they can to position themselves at the frontier of this innovation. With all the market potential of many technological advancement and innovation, Apple has a bigger fish to fry but it has chosen to face its competition in the courtroom and it’s paying a price for it. But then again, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) may just be following the legacy of its founder. After all, Steve Jobs was quoted as saying: “I will spend my last dying breath if I need to, and I will spend every penny of Apple’s $40 billion in the bank, to right this wrong (Google’s supposed infringements on Apple patents).” From the look of things, that’s precisely what Apple is doing right now.
By Azouz of quantshare.com – The most complete trading software
