Samsung and Apple: Where do they stand?

Recently, Apple has amended the patent infringement lawsuit which was filed against Samsung in April. Even Samsung was gaining ground as they filed counter-lawsuits against Apple in a tit-for-tat case.

In a telephonic interview Nam Ki Yung, a spokesman for the Suwon, South Korean-based company informed Bloomberg about Samsung dropping the lawsuit “to streamline the legal proceedings.” The suit which filed to counter Apple's initial suit alleging Samsung slavishly copied its designs was dropped quietly on Thursday.

After dropping the patent suit, Samsung said it would focus on other key lawsuits and countersuits against Apple in many countries around the world.

In fact, Apple revealed its fear of Samsung’s top Google-powered Android smartphones, as operating systems have emerged as the key battlefield for dominance of the world’s smartphone market. In February, Android became the most popular smartphone software in the United States ahead of Apple and Research in Motion, according to comScore.

Gartner, another research company showed how Google’s Android operating system accounted for 36.2 million smartphones sold worldwide in Q1 2011 giving Android a market share of 36 percent, compared to 27.4 percent from Nokia Symbian. Apple iOS came in third with 16.8 percent of the market share and 16.8 million iOS-based iPhones sold, according to Q1 2011 report from Gartner.

Although Samsung dropped the countersuit in California, Samsung is still fighting Apple in eight different courts, six countries and three continents.

Meanwhile, according to a filing discovered by FOSS Patents, Apple has filed a motion for a preliminary injunction with the US District Court for the Northern District of California. Interestingly, the motion focuses on just four devices: the Infuse 4G, Galaxy S 4G, Droid Charge, and Galaxy Tab 10.1.

Earlier, Apple had named key Samsung products as copycats which includes Samsung Captivate, Continuum, Vibrant, Galaxy S 4G, Epic 4G, Indulge, Mesmerize, Showcase, Fascinate, Nexus S, Gem, Transform, Intercept, and Acclaim smart phones and Samsung Galaxy Tab tablet and along with Droid Charge, Galaxy Ace, Galaxy Prevail, Galaxy S (i9000), Gravity, Infuse 4G, Nexus S 4G, Replenish, Sidekick, Galaxy Tab 10.1, and Galaxy S II

Few days ago, Apple demanded that Samsung should show the prototypes of its upcoming devices. Samsung counter-sued and demanded that Apple should showcase its upcoming iPhone 5 and iPad 3 devices, an action which Apple termed as harassment.

As Apple filed its suit, Samsung too filed suits in South Korea, Japan and Germany, involving 10 alleged infringements of patents mainly involving power reduction during data transmission, especially in reducing errors in 3G technology during data transmission, and wireless data communication technology.

After Sony Corp, Apple was the biggest client for Samsung last year bringing close to 6.2 trillion Korean won ($5.7 billion) of sales and was expected to be the top client in 2011.

Apple had also claimed that Samsung was the boldest of all competitors in terms of copying its technology. Recently, Samsung's Galaxy line of smartphones and tablets have received great reviews and especially the smartphones have recevied an overwhelming response in the U.S. and Europe. In 2010, Samsung Galaxy S line of devices showed that out of 20 million smartphones sold around the world, more than 10 million were Samsung Galaxy S smartphones.

Now the official figures from Samsung in 2011 show that the Samsung Galaxy S2 has done exceptionally well. The Samsung Galaxy S2 has not yet reached US shores, but has already broken Samsung’s own record as it sold over three million units in 55 days since its launch, making it approximately 50,000 phones a day. And most of these smartphones were bought in the European market. Samsung is Asia’s biggest technology company and the world’s No. 2 handset maker with a target of 60 million units of smartphone sales this year.

Apple now has to deal with increased competition from HTC and Motorola, the two other major brands threatening its market share. Apple usually releases its latest iPhone every year in June or July. This year, it did not happen perhaps reflecting the company's change of strategy or nervousness, according to analysts.

Still, Apple iPhone and iPad newer versions show a trend that the company is merely improving these devices with additional features than brining out an entirely new innovative product. Also, DigiTimes reported that Apple will first launch the iPad 3 and iPhone 5 in small quantities in September and will then go for a full-fledged release in September. Supply chain sources state that Apple has started sourcing parts for iPad 3 and iPhone 5. The fact that Apple keeps trying to just improve on its features has also led many consumers to be weaned away by competitors with newer and better devices meeting their needs.