The Apple V Samsung tablet fight isn’t all about business – it’s personal. An Australian court yesterday was told how (now) former Apple CEO, Steve Jobs, sought to personally contact Samsung over its alleged patent breaches in 2010 to fix the row, without fuss.
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| Job with his beloved creation, iPad. |
The case which sat in Sydney’s Fedral Court before Justice Annabelle Bennett, yesterday, saw Apple call witness Richard Lutton, it’s chief patent counsel at the time, who revealed Jobs’ major concerns over the issue with one if its biggest suppliers, Samsung.
Jobs made direct contact with Galaxy Tab 10.1 maker in 2010, whom his company Apple had “a deep relationship” with, Lutton told the court.
The close ties were also one of the reasons Samsung bosses were keen to avoid entering a messy legal battle with its biggest customer, worth millions in revenue to its components business.
And Apple were also clearly keen to keep its principal supplier of iPad 2 display’s sweet, in order to avoid any potential supply issues.
But how quickly relationships go sour – Apple is now looking to impose a blanket ban on the sale of its former BFF’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 both in Australia but also Europe and US, claming the tab is a clone of its iPad 2.
However, it appears the case is more about maintaining market share and less about patents.
Read Samsung Galaxy Tab Apple’s Worst Fear Here
“The discussions started with contact from [Mr. Jobs], and then he wasn’t involved in meetings beyond that,” Lutton revealed while under questioning by Samsung lawyer, David Catterns.
The close business ties between the now sparring duo was one of the reasons Jobs started talking to South Koreans informally in the summer of 2010 “to give them a chance to do the right thing.”
The court hearing is now to spill over into next week, when a decision should be made as to whether Samsung can launch its 10″ super thin Android Honeycomb tab here.
