US Edition 
Apple ordered to reveal profit margins
Apple has been dealt a double blow after a US judge said it should be forced to reveal sensitive information about its profit margins and the technology giant lost a legal battle in Britain.
The judge who presided over a high stakes court battle between Apple and Samsung in August has ordered that key data used as evidence in the case is made public. They include details about the iPhone maker’s sales, profits and margins.
Samsung was ordered to pay Apple $1.05bn (£650m) in the patents battle, after the Korean company was found guilty of copying Apple’s designs for the iPhone and its iPad device. However, the American technology giant stands to lose a considerable amount more if the information sparks a backlash amongst customers and dents sales of its expensive products.
As a listed company, Apple regularly reveals information about its revenues and profits, but it is careful not to disclose the mark up on its products. It has argued that the details will hand its rivals an unfair advantage.
The US court is unconvinced, however. “Apple has not established that public availability of its product-specific unit sales, revenue, profit, profit margin and cost data would actually provide its competitors with an advantage,” judge Lucy Koh wrote.
Apple still has another chance to keep the information under wraps. It will not be unsealed until the US Court of Appeal also examines whether the data should be made public.
Meanwhile in Britain, Apple failed to overturn an earlier ruling that cleared Samsung of copying certain elements of the iPad for its own tablet device, the Samsung Galaxy Tab.
Apple has been ordered to run an advertisement in a number of national newspapers spelling out that Samusng has not infringed its rights. It could still appeal the verdict by taking the case to the UK Supreme Court.