Soon after news erupted that 9-persons jury in SF court presiding over the patent fight between Apple and Samsung, bloggers, journalists, writers and analysts immediately spun their own version of what appeared to be thoughtful reactions and analysis. After this trial, the question plaguing everyone's mind is what will come next? It depends on which camp you listen to.
One school of thought suggests that this win for Apple is just the tip of the iceberg. Apple will not stop here and the fresh confirmation that their design patents are valid gives them more lethal arsenal against the growing clout of its Android nemesis. This win will send signals that will ripple through industries not limited to the smartphone market alone. The message is clear and powerful. This will send out a warning to Apple's rivals and other smartphone manufacturers. But some analysts believe that given the piles of law suits that Apple has filed, going after each of the smaller phone manufacturers will not be their highest priority at the moment. Instead, many believe that Tim Cook and his legal team have set their eyes on Google. This is not surprising at all. In Steve Jobs' biography, Walter Isaacson revealed how Steve Jobs described Google's Android as 'stolen product' and he would fight a 'thermonuclear war with Google' in order 'to right what is wrong'. The Google-Android OS relationship is a bit complicated. It is true that Google makes Android that is in turn powering millions of devices that have outsold even Apple's best selling iPhone. However, unlike Samsung, Google does not earn much from the OS licensing. Instead, Google gains most of its revenue from the ads revenue it is generating as Google search is the default search engine in all the Android devices.
To give this camp its due credit, Apple had indeed followed up on its win to bar the sales of all Samsung devices that are found to be in patent violation. Likewise, Samsung's lawyers are quick to capitalize on the small victory it has over the Galaxy tablet which was found to be in no violation to Apple's iPad. From the look of it, Google may choose to remain as quiet spectators on the sideline while the two titans are fighting it out.
There is another school of thought which questions the impact of Apple's win to consumer choices. Some believe that this could be a wake up call to all the smartphone makers. All these phone makers will be forced to take a step back and slow down the release of their new devices. They need to be more cautious and careful in deciding if their devices have the same 'look-and-feel' as iPhone. Some might be compelled to change the appearance altogether while some might just do away with software tweak that would give their device distinguishable 'look-and-feel' from the iPhone. Nonetheless, this could mean well for the consumers as these manufacturers are required to dedicate more emphasis on their designs and not just taking the short cuts. Whether it is good or bad for the consumers, time will tell.
$1B is a huge amount considering that Samsung Electronics only have $14B in their cash reserve. Everyone believes that Samsung will proceed with appeals and fight a long battle with Apple. No one expects them to surrender any time soon. (See how Samsung is going to pay the $1B fine)
As things stand today, Samsung is wounded but by no means dead yet. Just look at the reports coming out in the past few days. The verdict by no doubt results in consumer dumping and shying away from the Samsung devices that are found to be in patent breach, such as the Galaxy S2. However, it could still mean a good fortune to Samsung because huge chunks of these people are going for Samsung's latest Galaxy S3 model instead. This could very well be a booster to its Galaxy S3 model.
So, did Samsung really lose? It is too early to tell.
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