Tim Cook opposed Samsung legal action, claims report
updated 06:28 am EST, Mon February 11, 2013
Cook was keen to defend supply chain
Tim Cook was opposed to suing Samsung in a lengthy patent battle over its products, according to a report. Cook is said to have been against the lawsuits in the first place due to Samsung's important role as a component supplier for the iPad and iPhone, with analysts estimating around $8 billion in parts were bought by Apple from Samsung.
Sources with knowledge of the matter spoke to Reuters for an article detailing the history of Apple and Samsung's business relationship. While Cook was keen to protect the supply of parts from Samsung, Steve Jobs opted to "go thermonuclear" to defend the company's intellectual property rights.
Though Apple won the legal battle, Samsung has still benefited from it's relationship with Apple, gaining an insight into the smartphone and tablet market. Despite being awarded $1.05 billion from Samsung as well as potentially banning the sale of certain Samsung products, the report suggests that the entire issue is heading into a litigious stalemate, with both companies seemingly sharing a number of common interests, one of which being the fight against BlackBerry, Microsoft, and other Android manufacturers.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: 09-06-01
Jobs wasn't always right
Jobs will undoubtedly be remembered more as legend than the facts of his life, and part of this legend will be that he was infallible. But, he wasn't. He was brilliantly right much of the time but sometimes he nearly made big mistakes if he'd had his way.
I think that the decision to go thermonuclear was clearly a very personal decision and not a business decision. Now we see how it has played out. Did Samsung blatantly copy Apple? Sure. But what, as a matter of facts, can one do about it? Now we know. It has indeed been almost a stalemate, though I would say that certainly the warning has been put out that if you copy Apple too much, you could get sued as well so don't do it.
Nevertheless, there's been a toll on Apple and I guess it is too soon to know if in the end it was worth it. I think this augurs well for Cook's leadership, though, that he won't be held hostage by the past, by fighting battles from the 1990s like Jobs did.
That means, hopefully, deciding that nearly $140 billion in cash and cash equivalents is more than plenty, and start either returning more of that cash to shareholders, or pursue more aggressive and bigger acquisitions, or both.