In the legal battle between Apple and Samsung, the latter’s fate rests on how much it can claim it never needed or wanted to plagiarise. But after reading memos like these, that may be harder to buy. Let us know what you think.
AllThingsD relays some highly internal documents recently squeezed out of Samsung in court — and they are an absolute nightmare for the company. Publicly, Samsung says it never copied the iPhone. But from one exec to another?
I hear things like this: Let’s make something like the iPhone.
When everybody (both consumers and the industry) talk about UX, they weigh it against the iPhone. The iPhone has become the standard. That’s how things are already.
Do you know how difficult the Omnia is to use? When you compare the 2007 version of the iPhone with our current Omnia, can you honestly say the Omnia is better? If you compare the UX with the iPhone, it’s a difference between Heaven and Earth.
Influential figures outside the company come across the iPhone, and they point out that “Samsung is dozing off.”
It’s a crisis of design.
The world is changing, and the flow of change isn’t something that you can have come back again by going against the flow.
You can read the memo in its entirety below.
Hold On A Second
Of course, the image at the top of this story is Apple’s slanted view of history.
When you talk about full panel touchscreens and icon rows, you need to mention devices like the LG KE850 Prada (see video on the right). Sony’s pre-iPhone touchscreen phone prototype also comes to mind. The Prada started showing up on tech sites in December 2006 (even winning the iF Design Award in September) and was officially announced on January 18, 2007. Steve Jobs unveiled Apple’s original iPhone on January 9, 2007.
– It’s likely Samsung was equally watching its Korean rival.
– Apple recently claimed this 2005 iPhone prototype proves it didn’t copy Sony.
The Apple vs. Samsung court case continues. [AllThingsD]