“The $930 million in damages Samsung was ordered to pay Apple last year for infringing its smartphone patents is more than some device makers earn in a year, but for Samsung it’s equal to just over 16 days’ worth of profit,” Martyn Williams reports for Macworld.
“The Seoul-based company reported its financial results Friday and said quarterly operating profit from its IT and mobile communications division, which sells primarily phones and tablets, came to $5.1 billion,” Williams reports. “That works out to roughly $56.6 million per day, so the damages it was ordered to pay Apple in one of their California lawsuits amounts to just over two weeks of profit.”
Read more in the full article here.
Stealing does pay…
Crime and dishonor pays.
Samsung should be penalized for theft, but this kind of article is misleading.
It’s like how Google wanted patent licenses for 2.5% of the product cost, rather than a few cents for the actual component. Should show how much value the infringed patent added to the product, rather than compare to profits.
The issue is that with these kinds of penalties there’s no way to deter patent infringement in this sector.
Whatever the “value” of these specific patents, Samsung was able capture almost half the market using Apple’s Protected intellectual property. There’s no way they’d have gotten there without the stolen IP. The lesson is steal now, and pay the (small) penalty later.
When both parties are honourable, sitting at the same table becomes productive. When even one party is not, then there are no good results. This can apply to politics as well.
This is a common problem in many fields. For example, a $1,000 speeding ticket would be ghastly event for most of us. But if you are making big bucks, it is no longer a deterrent. In Sweden, those wise people have a sliding scale for fines.
A few years ago, a multimillionaire was caught speeding. His ticket was in the sinus clearing million dollar plus category. The millionaire in question was stunned. He yelled and he screamed all over town. And he stopped speeding.
Thusly, the U.S. patent courts (which are so far behind in all category of justice) will probably never get to a sliding scale of proper fines.
But I remain calm, because I don’t think Samsung will ever pay the fine anyway, and I expect the “workaround” changes to “stop using the patents” will be a joke anyway.
In the meantime, like a substantial number of Apple fans, I have stopped buying anything that has anything remotely Samsung about it, and I have made it a personal goal to gently chid users of Samsung phones, softly suggesting they have lost their integrity. I think it works. I know they don’t like it. The Samsung timepiece is not selling. Oh, dang! I hate it when that happens.
A closing note to Judge Koh: You spent a considerable chunk of time dealing with Samsung’s rude behavior in court. You should at least get enough of a pound of flesh to get their attention. A few days for contempt of court at least. But you won’t.
Agreed. The only thing to do is boycott Samsung consumer products and discourage others from buying them too.
Why do they even fight it in court? Just pay the fine and keep cranking them out.
i guess that onstage declaration ‘and we’ve patented the hell out of this’ uttered by sj when he introduced the iPhone wasn’t as formidable as it sounded. certainly not to eric schmidt. certainly not to the gang of shamwow. what does it take these days to protect someone’s IP.
no, it doesn’t stand for international pantyhose.
Don’t matter a pair of dingo’s kidneys how many patents you have- the process of protecting them in the current state of legal affairs is endless, frustrating, and continually and infinitely expensive.
Steve said they patented the hell out of it, he didn’t say the courts were going to enforce the hell out of it. 😐
A billion here, a billion there. Pretty soon you’re talking real money.
I’m not sure the math works out. If they made about $5 billion in profit, and they are being fined almost $1 billion, how does roughly 19 percent of a year come out to only two weeks??
Huh?
Annualised 20×4/50=.8 ~ 2 weeks profits.
He already figured it out in his post below, over an hour before this post. Thanks BLN.
Nevermind. $5.1 billion is quarterly profit, not annual profit. My bad.
Sumdung is not grtting a penny of my money.. For anything they make..
Since about 5 years ago !
In terms of direct Samsung branded gear, SAME HERE!
But we all hand Samsung cash via our Apple gear. Some day, SOME DAY, we can be Samsung-Free forever.
Well I guess thievery pays well. The whole patent system is a joke.
To the moon Samsung!
Samsung should have all its assets confiscated and handed over to Steve Ballmer for safe keeping.
Speaking of profit, is it possible for MDN to have any MORE ads?
Use the Mac OS X “Reader” Mode in Safari & all the ads vanish…
Install Ghostery. http://www.ghostery.com
You know, just by using a css style sheet you can rid yourself of most adverts – do a little research online – it’s a much better browsing experience.
You need to check your math. It is more like two months profits.
Ban all Samsung products from home and tell all your friends. I did and it feels good!
the real destruction to companies like Samsung is that it teaches the wrong thing to the company and weakens morale.
what you’re inculcating into your companies DNA and teaching your staff is that
– we steal
– stealing makes money. All we the leaders care about is money (we even cheat our partners and customers like apple. So how do you think we care about YOU the worker?)
– stealing is better than innovation
– don’t trust us, don’t trust anyone
– your leaders, CEO, BOD are immoral
– you are working in a shitty company that survives by stealing.
in short you are teaching your staff and building it into your company that : cheating is good, innovation is a joke, don’t trust your leaders or co-workers, you are working in an immoral company etc. How can managers get serious in encouraging a culture of innovation when every body knows: we make more money stealing?
Long term I tell you this WRECKS a company.
How can you innovate long term if your DNA is like that ?: I give Samsung Stupid Watch as proof….
Davewrite, I agree.
I feel that this is why Microsoft is declining and will never rise again.
Copying and failure to innovate is in Microsoft’s DNA.
And now copying, stealing, and absence of creativity is the fabric of Samsung.
When the well of cheap illegal and unethical product resources dries up, there will be nothing left for Samsung to exploit.
Hopefully there will be more costs and fines associated and more importantly some of the coping stop …..
Free Android is no longer free …. There has been 23 patents so far that royalties are being paid on and the number will likely go up and at a faster pace ….
Plus more bad press for Samsung is due here shortly as the March Trial comes into focus and the Press brings up Samsung infringement and court losses …..
Most people are good and won’t buy stolen property …..if they know it is stolen …..
And import bans, we can only hope!