No compromise with Apple, Samsung CEO says

Sales of Galaxy Note 2 projected to reach 20m units, Galaxy S3 to exceed 30m this year


Samsung Electronics has no intention to form a compromise with Apple in the near future over the ongoing patent lawsuit between the two sides involving smartphone technology and designs, a top Samsung executive said on Wednesday.

“Though the two sides have held a series of negotiations on instruction from the court, it was in vain,” Samsung CEO Shin Jong-kyun of the mobile devices division told reporters.

“It will be difficult for the two sides to make any compromise“ even in the coming weeks or months, he said.

Samsung and Apple have been engaged in a fierce intellectual property battle since early 2011, when the U.S. company filed a suit against its Korean rival, accusing it of “slavishly” copying the look and feel of iPhones and iPads in pushing its Galaxy series of mobile devices.

CEO Shin also downplayed the possible impact of Apple’s iPhone 5, which was set to debut early this morning in the United States, on the global smartphone market.

“We don’t much care about it. We are just focusing on manufacturing our own high-quality goods,” he said.

In addition, the CEO said he shared the view among some analysts that Apple may infringe on its fourth-generation Long Term Evolution connectivity patent.

While some market observers are raising the possibility that Samsung will sue Apple over the LTE patent when the iPhone 5 is released, Samsung, which boasts a considerable number of patents related to LTE technologies, has taken a cautious attitude toward the issue.

Samsung and Apple have been technology’s most unique bedfellows: foes in finished products like smartphones and touch-screen tablets, but friends in parts, with Apple one of Samsung’s biggest customers for chips and flat screens.

Meanwhile, Shin said that sales of Samsung Electronics’ latest mobile gadget, Galaxy Note 2, are likely to be more than double those of its predecessor, the original Galaxy Note.

“Sales may more than double (compared with the previous model),” he was quoted by a spokesman as saying.

The first Galaxy Note, released in November, has sold more than 10 million units.

The Galaxy Note 2 will be released in October as scheduled, Shin said, in contrast to rumors that Samsung may reschedule the release date ahead of the iPhone 5’s launch in Korea.

He also said sales of the company’s flagship Galaxy S3 smartphones are likely to surpass 30 million units this year.

By Kim Yon-se (kys@heraldcorp.com)