Samsung Electronics on Monday said that the verdict in a US court against it on a patent dispute with Apple will not impact its sales of smartphones and tablet computers in India.

“As far as products are concerned, there is no impact. There is no change in pricing also,” a Samsung India spokesperson told Business Line .

The company had on Friday launched its tablet computer, Galaxy Note 800 against its rival Apple.

Being a first product in this category, the company is confident of garnering consumers, although priced at Rs 39,990. Apple has multiple products in this category priced between Rs 24,500 and Rs 50,900.

Samsung is also selling its smartphone Galaxy S III.

Internal memo

Samsung sent out an internal memo on Monday saying the company was forced to take the patent tussle to court after Apple pressed on with a lawsuit.

“History has shown there has yet to be a company that has won the hearts and minds of consumers and achieved continuous growth, when its primary means to competition has been the outright abuse of patent law, not the pursuit of innovation,” the letter said.

“We trust that the consumers and the market will side with those who prioritise innovation over litigation and we will prove this beyond doubt,” it added.

‘Loss for American consumers’

Apple had won a $ 1.049-billion verdict against Samsung, after a jury in California found that the South Korean firm violated a series of Apple’s patents related to software and design of mobile devices.

However, Samsung in its retaliation said that the ‘verdict should not be viewed as a win for Apple, but as a loss for the American consumer’. It will lead to fewer choices, less innovation and potentially higher prices.

“This is not the final word in this case or in battles being waged in courts and tribunals around the world, some of which have already rejected many of Apple’s claims. Samsung will continue to innovate and offer choices for the consumer,” it said. “There could be slight impact on manufacturers developing handsets on Android platform, which have features similar to iPhone. They will have to go for a redesign to avoid patent infringement,” Dushyant Singh, Associate Director (Strategy), at PricewaterhouseCoopers India, said.

(With inputs from Rajesh Kurup in Mumbai)

> ronendrasingh.s@thehindu.co.in

Related Topics