Apple Wins Legal Case Over Samsung
And the Grave Consequences of the Verdict for Samsung
by Aldrin N. on 2012-08-31
At last, the well- covered legal firestorm between Samsung and Apple has come to an end, with Apple getting the favor of the jury. The South-Korean company was declared guilty of infringing on six of Apple’s patents, and Samsung must pay the cost of the damages amounting to more than $1 billion. This definitely spells Doomsday for Samsung, especially now that many customers are aware of Samsung’s court loss against Apple.
What’s the worst effect of this defeat? Many electronics refurbishing companies noted a massive growth in sales of Samsung devices with Gazelle, an online e-recycling firm, specifically seeing a 50% growth. As if that wasn’t enough, Samsung phones’ resale value dropped by 10%.
According to MarketWatch:
“Gazelle.com reports a 50% increase in Samsung smartphones over the past three days, which has led to a 10% drop in prices for those devices.” “Consumers seem to be jumping ship,” says Anthony Scarsella, chief gadget officer at Gazelle.com. “We expect this trend to continue, especially with this latest verdict.”
But based on the predictions of tech analysts, Samsung phones will not be the only devices which will suffer the grave consequences of the loss, but all Android gadgets. The refurbishing industry is anticipating the influx of Android powered devices and people are scrambling to unload these gizmos as soon as they can. According to speculations, the international court decision has made quite a stir and confusion about the gadgets run by the Google platform.
The implication of this battle for Samsung is that if it plans to release a new phone, it should be substantially different from its counterparts. The core elements and features should be changed so as not to be mistaken for any other smartphone.
We are definitely not sure about how things will happen. True, Apple’s trumpets will not blare for very long. Last we heard, a December 6 hearing will take place. The proceedings will mainly center on whether 8 of Samsung’s devices will be banned from sale in the US. Consequently, Samsung has issued an appeal regarding last Friday’s decision. Who knows? We still have to wait for the twist to unravel itself before our eyes.
Aldrin Norwood is a resident blogger for Cash for Smartphones. A certified multimedia geek, he lives and breathes smartphone news and updates. Born from a family of writers- reinforced by his degree in English Studies- his work had been cited Honorable Mention on the Genoveva Edroza-Matute Literary Awards in 2011- Essay Division, and had been the Editor-in-Chief of his university’s official publication. He mostly writes about philosophy, pop culture, movies, literature, and technology, specifically about the smartphone industry.
