Samsung

Gartner predicts Lenovo will become China’s #1 smartphone brand in 2013

Ed Sutherland ∙ November 20, 2012

China is fast becoming a key market for Apple and other smartphone makers looking to cash-in on the nation's enormous population. However, the top player in 2013 could come from closer to home. Lenovo is expected to become China's leading smartphone brand next year, up from its current #2 slot, one research firm announced Tuesday.

According to Gartner, Lenovo's share of the smartphone market rose to 14.8 percent in the third quarter of this year, a dramatic increase from a year ago, when the company held just 1.7 percent of the market. That puts its Android-powered LePhone within striking distance of Samsung, which is the leading smartphone maker in China with 16.7 percent of the market.

What advantages does Lenovo have? Name-recognition and reasonable pricing, the latter being of the utmost importance in China...

ITC to review recent ruling that Apple’s devices don’t violate Samsung patents

Cody Lee ∙ November 19, 2012

The US International Trade Commission announced today that it will review a recent ruling made by ITC Judge James Gildea, who found that Apple's devices don't infringe on certain Samsung patents. The stakes, as with most ITC-level cases, are pretty high here, as an overturn by the Commission could result in banned iOS devices...

Apple owns 37 percent of the fragmented mobile ad market

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Apple continues to lead mobile advertising, despite Samsung's strength in handset sales, a new report out Monday indicates. Apple accounted for 37 percent of mobile ads while Samsung had 24 percent. The rest of the mobile pack were left in the two firms' dust. Cupertino's mobile ad lead over Samsung actually grew by three percent during the third quarter, with a little help from the iPhone 5, which was released at the end of the third quarter, according to Adfonic's AdMetrics report...

Sony is still dreaming about dethroning the iPhone

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

SonyEricsson, the Japanese giant's partnership with the Swedish telecommunications equipment company Ericsson, for most part has failed to make a splash in the highly competitive smartphone market. Deciding enough was enough, Sony at last acquired Ericsson's share in the venture in February. Sony Mobile Communications, a wholly-owned subsidiary, was born. And as the battle for smartphone supremacy intensifies, Sony's new mobile arm is adamant to produce a much-needed iPhone killer. But why stop there? According to its mobile chief, an upcoming flagship handset will as well take direct aim at Samsung's Galaxy S III.

A badass Sony phone that can compete with both the iPhone and Galaxy S III, each super-popular in its own right? That's a tall order. Sony's killer phone is officially due early next year and looks like it's gonna pack some serious oomph. The question is, will folks care?

Google Nexus 10 unboxing and first impressions

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 10, 2018

Today I got my hands on the Google Nexus 10 in order to do a proper comparison with the iPad, and to stay up to date on the iPad's closest competitors. As you'll recall, I already did a review of the Nexus 7, and came away with a favorable impression of the device.

For the Nexus 10, a lot is the same as the Nexus 7, but a lot has changed as well. The most obvious difference is the form factor. This tablet competes directly with the iPad as far as size is concerned. You'll also notice a fairly original design, and one of the best, if not the best, screens on a tablet that you've ever seen...

Samsung wants to take a peek inside Apple’s patent settlement with HTC

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 16, 2012

Always on the lookout to possibly improve its legal position in the ongoing stand-off with Apple, Samsung on Friday filed a court order seeking to force Apple to turn over a copy of the HTC agreement. As Cody told you, Apple and HTC settled litigation with a ten-year licensing agreement worth nearly $3 billion.

Neither company has released the specifics of the deal, leaving Samsung to wonder whether the agreement includes the famous iPhone software features that Apple successfully asserted against Samsung. You know, the stuff like rubber-band scrolling, pinch zoom and other iPhone perks...

Samsung now more assertive in price negotiations over Apple’s hostile tactics

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 16, 2012

Apple appears to be resolving its legal woes with other Android backers such as HTC, reportedly seeking arbitration and even mulling a global settlement with Google's subsidiary Motorola Mobility. On the other hand, the company is to this date entangled in a complicated web of patent disputes with Samsung, from whom it sources components for iOS devices.

And as the frenemies seek to add new gadgets to their respective list of infringing products, one analyst believes Apple's hostile tactics has forced the Galaxy maker to divert from its original business strategy. As a result, the component arm of the South Korean conglomerate has become "more assertive" in price negotiations with Apple, refusing to invest billions of dollars in plants and manufacturing technology without long-term commitment from Apple...

Judge rules Apple and Samsung may add Jelly Bean and iPhone 5 to patent suit

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 16, 2012

Bloomberg reports that a federal judge has ruled that Apple may add Jelly Bean, the latest and greatest version of the Android operating system powering smartphones and tablets, to its patent infringement claims asserted against Samsung. At the same time, the South Korean conglomerate was allowed to add the iPhone 5 to its suit as the company looks to retaliate for losing $1.05 billion in damages by targeting Apple's latest handset. Though U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul Grewal allowed Apple to target the Jelly Bean software, the scope is limited to Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus devices...

Samsung gathering 200 execs to talk biz and Apple litigation strategy

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 15, 2012

A report out Thursday from Korean news organization The Chosun Ilbo has it that some two hundred Samsung executives are scheduled to meet with Samsung's top dogs in December. Corporate matters will be on the agenda, including that long-standing patent dispute with Apple which has poisoned business relationship between the two consumer electronics giants to the point of no return.

The report also mentions that Samsung recently fired its vice president in charge of matters relating to Apple, another indication that Samsung's litigation strategy concerning Apple is about to change. The same news organization earlier in the week asserted that Samsung instituted a massive chip price hike that analysts feared could hurt Apple's margins, but the story was debunked the following day by an unnamed Samsung executive...

Samsung denies massive chip price hike that could hurt Apple’s margins

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 14, 2012

Monday's news by South Korean newspaper Chosun alleging Samsung was jacking up prices of Apple mobile chips by as much as twenty percent in order to get even with its largest component buyer for losing more than $1 billion in damages in the massive Apple v. Samsung patent case is untrue, an unnamed Samsung executive reportedly told a Korean newspaper Wednesday. A-series of chips that power iOS devices are designed by Apple and built exclusively by Samsung at its sophisticated facility in Austin, Texas...

Gartner: Apple and Samsung shipped nearly half of all smartphones in Q3

Ed Sutherland ∙ November 14, 2012

As mobile phones become smarter, Samsung and Apple continue to rule the landscape as the world's best-selling cell phone brands. As for Google's Android platform, it now controls more than seven out over every ten smartphones in consumers' hands, a new report suggests. Both Samsung and Apple controlled 46.5 percent of the smartphone market in the third quarter.

The iOS-Android duopoly had a commanding 86 percent platform lead in the third quarter, according to research firm Gartner. Individually, the South Korean smartphone maker held 32.5 percent of the market while Apple held 13.9 percent, the researcher announced Wednesday. Android now controls an astounding 72.4 percent of the mobile operating system market for smartphones, up from 52 percent in the year-ago quarter...

Samsung exec says there’s no plans for HTC-like settlement with Apple

Cody Lee ∙ November 14, 2012

Last week, Apple and HTC grabbed a number of headlines when they announced that they had reached a global settlement in patent litigation, effectively ending several ongoing lawsuits between the two companies.

Unsurprisingly, the news has sparked some hope that the iPad-maker would reach a similar deal with its arch enemy, Samsung. But according to a new report, the South Korean company has no intentions to settle...