Why Did Apple and Samsung Become Enemies While They Were Best Friends?

In fact, at first these two companies had very good relations, but over time The balance changed and these two friends became fierce enemies. So, how did the rivalry between these two sides begin?

Now two companies highly competitive struggles Let’s look at all the details.

Apple has actually been struggling with many of its competitors since the first day it emerged.

IBM in the 80s, Microsoft in the 90s, Google in the 2000s. However, the rivalry between Apple and Samsung is much more unique and contentious. Samsung has only been around since day one. in the laptop, tablet and smartphone market It didn’t just compete with Apple.

Also to Apple Basic components for use in devices also supplied. For example, the iPhone’s screen.

So, with such a relationship between them, for what reasons did the two companies fall into disagreement?

Each of us knows Samsung for the products they sell for consumer electronics. But; Considering the company’s history, this business sector, which includes phones, computers and tablets It can be considered a new development. Because Samsung started its journey with only parts production.

In the 80s, the priority of this company was actually the supply of parts (semiconductor materials), and Samsung’s general manager at the time, Lee Byung-chull, wondered whether to continue this part supplier or to open up to different business ideas. He had several meetings with Steve Jobs to exchange ideas.

Meanwhile, Samsung had decided to take action towards a new chip factory, and the relationship between the two was quite friendly.

Apple remains Samsung’s largest customer, supplying millions of dollars’ worth of electronic parts. But this collaborative relationship between Apple and Samsung Of course it didn’t last forever.

Samsung’s chief executive visited Apple’s headquarters before the first iPhone was announced in 2007 and Steve Jobs Explained to him how iPhone technology works. The fears came true and Samsung adapted this technology to its own products.

Only 2 years after this happened, Samsung released its smartphone called Galaxy, which runs on Google’s Android operating system.

Jobs went on to claim that Android was a stolen product and He called Samsung a copycat. Moreover, at this very moment, Samsung stopped being Apple’s ally and became an enemy of Apple, and a long legal battle began between the two companies in 2011.

In fact, Apple sold Samsung its smartphones and tablets in 2010. He previously said Apple was violating his patents and since the two companies were in a collaboration, Apple was willing to make a deal on this.

Apple offered a deal where it would pay Samsung $40 per tablet and $30 per phone, but Samsung refused. He rejected this offer, claiming that his products did not infringe any patents.

Thus, unable to reach a compromise after a year, Apple did not hesitate to file a lawsuit.

Apple’s defense in the case file was as follows: “Instead of continuing independent product development, Samsung used Apple’s different interfaces, innovative technology, original product and packaging design, He chose to copy blindly, violating Apple’s intellectual property rights.“

So did Samsung really imitate the iPhone? Considering the design and technology of Samsung products before and after the iPhone, it is possible to see that Samsung has benefited greatly from the innovations of the iPhone.

Apple made a total of 16 different claims against Samsung, but 3 of them attract attention.

Trade dress infringement, trademark infringement, and infringement of design patents. The first of these, trade dress, is the visual appearance that represents the source of a product or its packaging.

For example, the first iMac was imitated by an American company called eMachines with a product called eOne, which There was no doubt that it was a copy of the hugely popular iMac. However, Apple was not very successful in the lawsuit it filed against the company, alleging trade dress.

Since Apple has faced such a case for iMac in the past, It is also produced by Samsung for various devices such as iPhone and iPad. He claimed that he was subjected to the same imitation.

At the point of trademark infringement, while Samsung could claim that the similarity in hardware design was a coincidence, it could not defend the similarities in software elements such as icons with peace of mind.

Of course, there are dozens or even thousands of ways to design an icon, but Samsung In this regard, it chose the same visuals as Apple. Violation of design patents also included the home screen icon layout, the form factor of the iPhone case, and the screen and button designs.

In summary, when all these elements are brought together; branding, let’s design and hardware designs Striking claims were made regarding the

So how did the court decide on all these accusations?

Juries decided in favor of Apple; Samsung for its violations Pay $1 billion compensation to Apple and ordered them not to do this on any of their future products. But this court decision was not the end of the story.

Samsung appealed the decision and filed a lawsuit against Apple. He claimed that the products did not infringe his patents. The disputes that followed through this legal court process dragged on for years, with both sides While it made some gains, it also experienced some losses.

Apple managed to get Samsung’s Galaxy Tab series banned in Germany, forcing Samsung to redesign the device.

But Samsung wasn’t always the party to blame in this dispute. apple; AT&T was found guilty of infringing Samsung’s cellular data patent with the iPhone 4, 3GS and 3G, as well as the original iPad and iPad 2 models with 3G data radios.

Such a crime is committed by Apple in the USA. AT&T models of some iPhones and iPads will be banned from sale but the White House vetoed this decision.

Ultimately, this war, which lasted for 7 years, ended in June 2018, when Apple and Samsung reached a compromise on an agreement whose contents were unclear. Although it is not known what the agreement is about, this difficult process It was obvious that it was damaging to both parties.

But Apple clearly saw this legal battle as a victory in a statement it published.

“We believe deeply in the value of design and our teams work tirelessly to create innovative products that delight our customers. This cause has always been about more than money. Apple ignited the smartphone revolution with the iPhone and It is a fact that Samsung clearly copied our design.

It’s important that we continue to protect the hard work and innovation of so many people at Apple. “We are grateful to the jury for their service and are pleased that they agreed that Samsung should pay for copying our products.” Samsung, on the other hand, did not choose to express an opinion on the issue.

After this long and contentious 7-year litigation process, it may seem that Apple and Samsung are now two different companies that have nothing to do with each other, but this is not the case.

Samsung still continues to supply Apple with key components for its most popular products. For example, the OLED screen of all models of the iPhone 15 series is produced by Samsung and Samsung, It is the only manufacturer from which Apple orders OLED panels.

Actually, Apple’s plan is; In addition to Samsung, the plan was to supply panels from Chinese BOE, but as in the previous series of the iPhone, BOE could not meet Apple’s quality standards and thus Apple had to rely entirely on Samsung.

In short, while Apple trusts Samsung to provide a variety of high-quality components that can be mass-produced on a large scale, Samsung is also quite confident that Apple will purchase the components it produces.

In other words, if both companies are damaged or destroyed, the other will clearly reach the same point. It means. Perhaps it may be possible to see different collaborations between Apple and Samsung in the future.

Although they are often in competition with each other, in some respects they are also These two companies are pregnant with each other What do you think about it?