Samsung Denies Australian Galaxy Tab 10.1 Sales Freeze [Updated]
Samsung has moved to clarify the situation regarding sales of its Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia and the agreement it came to with Apple earlier this week, denying that the settlement will delay the launch of the Android slate. According to Samsung's official comment, AusDroid reports, the "mutual agreement" between the Korean firm and Apple only covers sales of the US version of the Galaxy Tab 10.1, a variant it never intended to offer in Australia.
Instead, Samsung will push ahead with the new Australian variant, which presumably differs in certain specific ways so as to be free from overlap with the contentious patents Apple is complaining about. The exact nature of the differences between them has not been specified at this stage, though Samsung isn't the only firm to have modified its Android line-up so as to be less legally uncertain. HTC is also believed to have modified its 2012 range so as to limit its potential damages.
Apple Inc. filed a complaint with the Federal Court of Australia involving a Samsung GALAXY Tab 10.1 variant that Samsung Electronics had no plans of selling in Australia. No injunction was issued by the court and the parties in the case reached a mutual agreement which stipulates that the variant in question will not be sold in Australia.
A Samsung GALAXY Tab 10.1 for the Australian market will be released in the near future.
This undertaking does not affect any other Samsung smartphone or tablet available in the Australian market or other countries.
Samsung will continue to actively defend and protect our intellectual property to ensure our continued innovation and growth in the mobile communication business.
Samsung's launch schedule for Australia isn't specific, with the company only saying that the tablet will arrive "in the near future." According to those terms of the agreement with Apple made public, the Cupertino company will be liable for damages should it subsequently lose its patent infringement case, presumably around Samsung's delay and engineering work involved in tweaking the Tab 10.1.
[via Android Community]
Update: Not everybody sees this as being a strong showing from Samsung. Patents expert Florian Mueller argues that the real intrigue is in what Samsung left out of its statement – originally planned release date in Australia, new release date, whether samples will be provided to Apple before sales begin, how they have been modified and more – and suggests that "it is, in fact, an admission of pretty serious problems because it denies only strawmen and navigates around the real issues"