UPDATED 07:17 EDT / AUGUST 14 2012

Apple-Samsung Trial Sheds Light on Samsung US Sales

Today’s mobile news roundup features: Apple-Samsung trial shedding light on Samsung sales; burning iPhone 5 rumors; smartphone sales dipping as the world awaits for the next iPhone; and Motorola Mobility’s massive layoff.

Apple-Samsung trial update

US District Judge Lucy Koh, overseeing the Apple-Samsung case, expects the two companies to deliver closing arguments by next week.  Though the trial seems like it’s nearing its end, more information about the two are being revealed.

A witness who testified for Apple, accountant Terry Musika, released information regarding Samsung’s US sales.  The South Korean company is not known for publicizing their sales numbers, but according to Musika, Samsung has an estimated revenue of $8.16 billion from mid-2010 to March 2012.  In other words, Samsung sold 22.7 million units that allegedly infringed Apple’s patents.

Apple is asking for $2.75 billion in damages, claiming that Samsung stole their customers, which affected their revenue.  But Samsung argued that in 2010, Apple was struggling to keep up with the demands of the iPhone so they shouldn’t be penalized if customers looked to purchase non-Apple devices.

Patent licensing director Boris Teksler also testified in the trial stating that in 2010, Apple reached out to Samsung by offering a number of patents for licensing hoping to not take the matter to court, but their offer was declined.  Teksler also added that Apple licensed their design patents to Microsoft with the condition that the software giant will not manufacture copies.

iPhone 5 rumor burn

As September 12 draws near, more rumors about Apple’s next iPhone continue to flourish.  We’ve already covered most of the rumors like a smaller dock connector, smaller SIM, larger screen, redesigned speaker grills and an in-cell touch panel.  But there’s one rumor that caught quite a lot of attention – a leaked photo of a screw.

A number of sources reported  that Apple came up with a new type of screw so users and unauthorized people cannot tinker with the device.  But Blog site Day4 stated that the rumored screw is just a huge load of BS they created in order to see how far the Apple community would take all these rumors.

Smartphone sales slowdown as people wait for the next iPhone

According to Gartner, mobile phone sales worldwide dropped 2.3 percent this quarter compared to last year as consumers await the arrival of the new iPhone.  Of the 419 million mobile units sold in the past three months, Samsung, Nokia and Apple were the top sellers of smartphones.  As device manufacturers continue to compete for the top position, consumers are also on the lookout for the next big thing.  People always want to stay ahead of their peers and to that end, they hold off into purchasing new devices until they see what the top companies have to offer.

Motorola to cut jobs

Just months after being acquired by Google, Motorola Mobility is set to cut 20 percent of their workforce and close a third of their 94 worldwide offices.  The massive job cut is Google’s first step in reinventing the struggling company in order to keep up with the major game players in the industry.  Motorola has completely fallen behind Apple and Samsung.

Motorola also has a new CEO, Dennis Woodside, who used to serve as Google’s head of sales and operations for the Americas.  Woodside stated that they are excited about the smartphone business, as the company wants to fully understand everything about mobile devices and mobile consumers as the world adopts the wireless model.


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