English: The iPad (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
A couple of days back Samsung took the unusual step of selling a display subsidiary - Liquavista. And they sold it to Amazon.com. That makes Amazon.com the only one of the giant US tech companies to have its own display development company. What is Samsung playing at? Is this a way to intensify pressure on Apple?
Samsung's sale of Liquavista coincides with new developments in the Apple vs Samsung patent retrial due for next spring. Late Monday Apple asked to have the new, flagship, Samsung Galaxy S4 added to the list of infringing products.
That move surprised many people, in part because the consensus seemed to be that Samsung's infringements applied to an older generation of products and that it has now moved away from those. It was a surprise also because the litigation is at a stage where both sides have been asked to reduce the range of products to go before a jury.
Liquavista boasts that its technology improves the performance of LCD screens by two to four times, using 90% of existing LCD production facilities. That opportunity should surely be of interest to Apple, who entered the eReader space when they launched the iPad.
Book publishers and authors alike wondered if the iPad would accelerate the sales of e-books and possibly even challenge Amazon's Kindle bookstore. Amazon presently maintains its crown as the largest retailer of e-books, but the company does not publicly release Kindle sales data. Meanwhile, the competitive landscape of e-readers has changed.
And one reason for that was the iPad 3 with Retina Display, which vastly improved readability. On the Liquavista sale Reuters reported:
“Amazon.com Inc said on Monday it had acquired Liquavista NV from Samsung Electronics Co to help the world’s largest Internet retailer develop new displays for mobile devices.”
Liquivasta is also thought to be good for low-power consumption video viewing as well as good all light conditions for color eReaders.
Samsung is an IP squirrel and has never feared the dilution of its focus. For the past ten years it has been busy building up its patent war chest, particularly around display technology where it is now an acknowledged global leader.
The curious nature of the sale is the company's history with IP. It is not afraid to buy into technology early or to deal with unestablished businesses. For example, in 2008 Samsung bought the small, Cupertino, California based company that owned the PenTile® technology IP that allows Samsung's OLED screens to perform so well. There have been persistent rumors that Apple would incorporate PenTile® technology into its iPads.
Back to Liquavista. It offered Samsung an opportunity to benefit from research undertaken at Philips Research - and the patents that go with it. Liquavista is a Philips spin-off.
However, after two years of owning Liquavista, Samsung decided not to pursue the technology. That could mean the technology had insufficient promise - but then why would Amazon.com pay $100 million for it?
It could also be that Samsung is hanging onto rights in the IP behind the display. Liquavista's first product application seems to be eReaders, which is ideal for Amazon.com. However, down the road it could find applications in small or large devices and even TVs.
Short term, The Register, among others reads it as a cue for a color eReader that is good in bright light.
Although the etailer already has Kindle-branded tablets in colour, it doesn't as yet have a sun-defying ereader display that can do colour, an option that would give its Kindles an edge over competitors like Barnes & Noble's Nook.
But Amazon is quoted as having bought the company for its long term projects. That means Amazon is stepping up its device strategy and empowering itself in the battle with Apple a development that must delight executives at Samsung who will be seething after Monday night.
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