Why Samsung Lost but Android Won

Posted by Latif Masud on August 25, 2012 02:44 pm 28

This is kind of what I expected.

If you followed this story and what each of those patents represented, you knew Samsung was on the losing side of this battle. All throughout the trial, it seemed to me like Apple was making the better arguments. However, this is not a loss for Android as much as it is a loss for Samsung and to a further extent the Asian manufacturers that like copying American and European designs.

In reality, this is a win for Android users. Android, unlike iOS and Apple products in general, is a platform that is suppose to push originality and individual flavor. What I hated about all of the big phone manufacturers like HTC, Samsung and Motorola (having owned an Android phone from each of the three) is that they always tried to take away that aspect from the OS by throwing on their crappy skins and software, so that their phone "stands out" from the rest of the Android pack.

Samsung was and in many regards still is one of the biggest offenders of this idea. As a former iOS user (multiple iPods, iPod Touch, iPhone 4), I couldn't help but notice the clear similarities in the interface between my previous Samsung Infuse and my old iPhone 4. Heck, I even suggested to a friend that she get a Galaxy S2 when she decided to transition from her iPhone. Clearly, a lot of the copying by Samsung will stop after the 1+ billion dollar hit, but I have a feeling (after seeing the GS3's interface) that this isn't the last we've heard of Apple suing Samsung.

The bigger win, however, is for us: the Android fanatics. The big name manufacturers already began rolling out more vanilla versions of Android after the ICS release simply because they couldn't make a skin that was whole lot than ICS already was. With the Apple lawsuits, it will make the manufacturers think harder and more creatively about the products they are pushing out. This should mean even better physically looking phones, which is something manufacturers have been steadily improving on anyways.

Personally, I have never understood why companies such as HTC, Samsung, LG, and Motorola even both messing withe the Android software. From a cost perspective, it doesn't make sense to me. Since Google is always going to push out new release of the OS anyways and they are going to do it quicker and with fewer bugs, why even bother spending time, money and resources towards a cause that someone else is taking care of already?

Either way, that's my rant on the lawsuit...