The seemingly never-ending legal battle between Apple and Samsung went back to its roots as a federal appeals court said Tuesday that it was up to a district court to decide if there should be a damages retrial. According to CNET, the case will return to the San Jose, California court where the trials in the long-running patent dispute originally took place.
Despite seeing its brand tarnished and anywhere between $2 billion and $5 billion wiped off its operating profit in the aftermath of Note 7 fiasco, Samsung of South Korea has managed to boost its fourth quarter earnings on the back of its semiconductor division and strong sales of the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge flagship devices.
Operating profits rose to $7.2 billion over the last three months of 2016 on sales of about $45.8 billion. Samsung's mobile division captured $2.1 billion in operating income, a four percent year-over-year profit increase.
Samsung Mobile expects sales of its low-cost phones in the Galaxy A and J series to grow in the coming months. All in all, this was Samsung's most profitable quarter in three years as the company has clearly bounced back from the global Note 7 recall.
During its press conference Monday morning, Samsung shared the findings of Note 7 investigations conducted by itself and three independent industry firms. In the aftermath of Note 7 fires, Samsung's won't be unveiling its next-generation iPhone rival at the Mobile World Congress in February as previously thought, Samsung told Reuters.
Samsung on Monday held a press conference to share results of its investigation into Note 7 fires that forced the South Korean firm to temporarily recall and eventually permanently discontinue its supposed iPhone killer.
For starters, the original battery made by Samsung SDI was irregularly sized and had a flaw in the upper right corner that could cause a short circuit.
A third-party battery made by Amperex Technology was used in replacement Note 7 units, but it suffered from a manufacturing issue that could cause the battery to catch fire because of a welding defect. The company announced new and enhanced quality assurance measures to improve product safety.
DigiTimes estimated this week that flash memory chips for smartphones will remain in high demand throughout 2017 because supply shortages are reportedly “worse than expected” as chip makers are currently transitioning from older 2D NAND to newer 3D NAND technology.
According to a report Friday in The Korea Herald newspaper, citing Mirae Asset Daewoo Securities analysts, Toshiba may spin off of its lucrative NAND flash unit and sell the stake to Western Digital, narrowing the technology and market share gap with its bigger rival Samsung Electronics.
Samsung Electronics has filed a request for international arbitration against Sharp and two other LCD panel makers over supply panel halt, The Korea Herald reported Friday.
Owned by iPhone manufacturer Foxconn, Sharp said recently it would stop supplying LCDs to Samsung.
The Galaxy maker is now seeking $492 million in compensation from Sharp and other vendors, said industry sources. Samsung reportedly filed its request with the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).
Galaxy S8 is widely expected to include a new Siri-like personal assistant, called Bixby, which may let users search for objects identified in a photograph and recognize text on images. These features should be integrated directly into Samsung's standard Camera app via a dedicated Bixby button, SamMobile learned Thursday.
Aside from these rumored visual search features, Bixby is thought to let the user control all stock apps and conduct payments, similar to Apple's Siri, and more.
Apple's next iPhone is expected to adopt a 5.8-inch wraparound AMOLED display that utilizes a fixed flex screen like Samsung's ill-fated Galaxy Note 7.
That's according to a note Cowen and Company analyst Timothy Arcuri issued to investors on Wednesday, a copy of which was obtained by AppleInsider. Arcuri refers to the so-called tenth anniversary iPhone as “iPhone X”.
The analyst claims the 4.7-inch iPhone 7s and 5.5-inch iPhone 7s Plus models may switch from LCDs to AMOLEDs, too, if Samsung Display is able to supply enough panels to Apple.
Official investigation conducted by Samsung Electronics has determined that a faulty battery was the main reason for Note 7 fires, a fiasco which led to a worldwide recall of the handset before the device was fully discontinued, Reuters reported Monday. A person familiar with the matter told the news gathering organization that Samsung should officially announce the results of the investigation next Monday, January 23, a day before the company is scheduled to reveal its fourth-quarter earnings.
Believe it or not, the longstanding Apple vs. Samsung patent spat over iPhone's iconic design is now in its sixth year. During that time, Samsung was found guilty of infringing upon Apple's patented smartphone design, including iPhone's rectangular front face with rounded metal edges and a grid of colorful icons on a black screen.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reopened that lawsuit yesterday after a recommendation from the U.S. Supreme Court to determine how much Samsung should pay the Cupertino firm over copying iPhone's look and feel, according to court documents uncovered by Law360.com.
Apple is planning to open a retail store in Seoul, South Korea, reports Reuters. This will be the company's first official store in the country, which also plays home to the headquarters of Samsung, Apple's largest competitor in the smartphone space.
A spokesperson for Apple confirmed the plans with Reuters via email, saying "We're excited about opening our first Apple Store in Korea, one of the world's economic centers and a leader in telecommunication and technology, with a vibrant K-culture."
Samsung is probably going to rip off AirPods next: the company should debut all-new wireless earphones alongside Galaxy S8 launch, according to confidential information received by SamMobile. “Samsung is surely looking to put out a product that competes with Apple’s AirPods,” reads the report.
Samsung, of course, was found guilty of lifting Apple's hardware and software designs in the past.
It currently owes the Cupertino firm hundreds of millions of dollars in damages. Back in 2015, Samsung copied the look and feel of Apple's wired EarPods for Galaxy S6.