Sunday, September 23, 2012

Equals

Not that I like History or anything, but History can actually explain the why in this Samsung-Apple battle.


After colonialism, the world was suddenly divided into colonizers and colonized; First World countries and Third World countries; rich and poor people. The Western became the king of the world, while Asia, Africa, and Latin America became part of their vast kingdom.

 Countries fought hard to earn a place in the global market: they industrialized at the expense of Western loans and conditions; they gave away their raw materials, and most importantly, governments forgot their own people in order to please those with green money.

Asian countries have always wanted to catch up with the West. America has always been the north and the way to go: the role model. I mean, China, South Korea, Taiwan are famous for duplicating American products, and then selling them for a cheaper price. That's how they became the countries they are today, thanks to their cheap labor, and hard work.
It's no surprise then, that Samsung, a South Korean company, copied Apple's many patents. It was logical for them to do so, as not so long ago, it was culturally expected from the South to follow America's steps.

Samsung just followed its forefathers steps.

However, why would Apple sue a simple follower? They are on the top of the game, right? Samsung's latest sales reports say otherwise. Samsung is getting too much attention! And cash. When Apple sued Samsung, they immediately acknowledged the South Korean company as real competition. Why else would they worry about it? The GalaxyIII threatens Apple's status and customers' loyalty. People are know hesitating between the two. Is not a blind decision anymore, and Apple doesn't like that.

A great Spanish political philosopher, Fernando Sabater, explained in his "PolĂ­tica para Amador" book that competition is only plausible in a world of equals. Equality between these two companies, with totally different values, is what set the environment for true competition, ergo Apple's sue. And we know what competition creates... Innovation!

When Apple closed Samsung's door worth a billion dollars, they opened a small but important window for creativity. Today Samsung is expected to not only keep up with Apple, but to blow everyone's mind. They are no longer followers, there are new rules to the game. Samsung has to make sure to erase the pinch-to-zoom mentality and open people's eyes to new experiences. Hold-to-zoom?

Things just got interesting.

4 comments:

  1. Would your view of this situation change if the companies' roles were reversed? If Samsung was suingApple for patent infringement?

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  2. If the roles were reversed, I couldn't think about "this battle" in Historic terms.

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  3. This was a great post. I love the Apple-Samsung battle. And I agree that Samsung copied Apple. P.S. love the Spongebob pic!

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  4. Good walk through the follower approach that upcoming nations have taken. And superb point at the end. Now that some of those companies have made a name for themselves, it's time to step out of the shadows and start innovating for themselves. Regardless of what you think of patents, this is a good push for Samsung.

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