As we all know Apple scored a resounding victory against Samsung last week in their patent case. The next stage is that Apple will ask for import and sales bans on those models found to have violated the patents:
Apple Inc is seeking speedy bans on the sale of eight Samsung Electronics phones, moving swiftly to translate its resounding court victory over its arch-foe into a tangible business benefit.
The question is though, how damaging would such a ban be to Samsung?
The effect on Samsung’s sales will be negligible because Apple’s list only includes older devices that will account for less than 1.4 percent of the Korean company’s profits next year, said Mark Newman, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein who used to work at Samsung. The impact would be 6.3 percent if Apple manages to broaden a ban to newer devices and block 80 percent of all Samsung phones, he said.
The Guardian has done a nice graphic showing what Samsung's product line would look like after a ban (a ban limited to just those found at fault).
The specific list Apple is seeking a ban on so far:
Out of that lot, Apple has singled out eight mobes to start with – including Galaxy S and Galaxy S2 phones and two others. The total list includes the Galaxy S 4G and Showcase, the Galaxy S2 AT&T, Skyrocket, T-Mobile and Epic 4G, the Droid Charge and the Galaxy Prevail.
"Apple reserves all rights regarding a permanent injunction, but has tailored this list to address a portion of the immediate, ongoing irreparable harm that Apple is suffering," the firm said in its court filing.
Samsung is also asking that the ban on the Galaxy 10.1 tablet be lifted:
Apparently, Samsung has chosen to see that as something of a silver lining. Even as Apple begins moving to block more Samsung products from the US, the South Korean device maker has taken this opportunity to request that a preliminary injunction against its Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet be lifted, since the jury found that particular device had not infringed Cupertino's design patents. Furthermore, Samsung is asking for damages based on the business it has lost due to the sales ban.
As far as it is possible to tell the direct, loss of sales, damage to Samsung depends upon which models Apple manages to get banned from the US. If the ones that were at the trial, not a lot really as they were all old and on the way out anyway. If Apple can get the ban extended to newer models them perhaps more serious. But do note that any ban would only apply to the US market and the rest of the world is still a pretty big place. And other countries have made different decisions on parts of this very same patent fight.
