苹果战三星：鹬蚌相争，渔翁得利

苹果公司(Apple Inc.)和三星电子(Samsung Electronics)双方的法庭斗争何时了？这场专利战争已经演变到令人反感了，目前所提出的证据不足以服人，但所造成的伤害却严重到可能得“挂急诊”了！如果这两家公司愿意走出法庭外去看一看，他们就会了解消费者根本不在乎他们之间的这些小纷争，不过竞争对手却乐见其高层主管成天待在法庭，而非研发设计室中。想想看，谁才是这场诉讼的真正赢家？ 虽然的主流新闻媒体以及许多产业媒体都对这场诉讼提供地毯式的详尽报导，包括苹果认为三星应该为疑似公开复制 iPhone、iPad的矩形设计或其它设计模式付出多少代价。但我一直期望的是竞争双方能够尽快回到生产竞争的模式。 至今有关这场诉讼的种种细节已经令人感到麻木了。到目前为止的剧情似乎演变得像是那种炎热午后孩子们在学校院子推挤争吵的情节。我可以想象老师正试着解决那 种“是她先捏我，我才踢她”的争执。苹果和三星可能不明白这一点，但这就是大部份消费者眼中看到目前正在加州法庭上演的情节。 对于两家公司来说，无非是因为利害关系太大而不得不然。我的意思并不是指任何一方可能得到的金钱补偿。无论陪审团的判决是否会让任何一方实施经济补偿，这两家公司都足以因应。对于苹果公司来说，它可以轻松地开出一张超过千亿美元的现金支票和有价证券。三星也一样，它和在法庭上的竞争对手一起从无线手机的销售中赚足了市场大部分的利润，就算判决结果对苹果较有利，三星的口袋也够深，足以因应苹果的要求而支付25亿美元的金额。 但是，双方在法庭上争锋相对，滔滔不绝地提出“他说…，她说…”的你来我往争执之后，他们最后仍然得回到市场上，面对市占率的 真实决斗。至今我们并未在法庭上看到任何可能让消费者认为三星一直公然侵权或违反专利法，因而得避免购买该公司产品的情况。苹果公司最终可能以些微差距赢 得这场法律诉讼，但却可能输在舆论──许多人开始觉得这整个法律诉讼战的用意似乎更像是要延缓竞争对手的产品上市脚步，而不是因为三星大量复制苹果的产品 了。当然，死忠的苹果粉丝一定不同意这个看法，而对另一家公司产品的爱用者来说，不管在法庭上弥漫着多少有关败坏道德的言论与烟硝味，他们还是会去购买该公司的产品。 从一开始，我就认为只有律师会是得以全身而退的最后赢家，特别是在有关专利诉讼的案件累积越多，也拖得越来越久以后。虽然专利诉讼有一定的程序，但苹果目前所提供的证据也还不足以达到更高的诉讼层级，而无论三星是否会在下周出反驳的论点，也同样起不了太大的作 用。双方都无法证明拥有在无线通讯方面的许多关键技术，也不可能用削弱竞争对手优势的这种方式来赢得用户的支持。 在写这篇文章时，我又想到了摩托罗拉移动公司(Motorola Mobility Inc.)、诺基亚公司(Nokia)以及这两家公司所面临的挑战。他们曾经是这个市场上的领导厂商，但他们目前的处境却告诉我们赢家将会来自何方。摩托罗拉移动公司现在已经是一家伤痕累累的公司了，它目前的新东家Google在日前宣布全球裁员4,000人。诺基亚稍早也曾经宣布过类似大规模的裁员行动。 早在十年前，当摩托罗拉和诺基亚主导这一无线世界时，不管是苹果还是三星在市场上都没什么名气。但这两家公司却后来居上，重挫市场上既有的主导大厂。所以，恕我在此直言建议这两家公司：当你们在法庭上大打可笑又无聊的专利战，而让你们公司的高层主管无法专注于真正的市场 战时，新的竞争对手也正开始蚕食你们的市占率，紧盯着你们在去年取得的巨额利润。 他们就出现在你们看不到的盲点，而且你们可能甚至都不知道有这些厂商。他们当然不会在今年或甚至是不久的将来就赢走这个市场，但你们在无线领域所获得的利润实在太诱人，而且你们也已经打开了一条裂缝让他们进行探索了。你们已经对彼此造成了这样危险的伤口，这将不仅有利于那些不知名的厂商，甚至是市场上还不存在的未来厂商(竞争对手)。 本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载 编译：Susan Hong 参考英文原文：Apple-Samsung: Can't We All Just Get Along?，by Bolaji Ojo, Editor in Chief

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{pagination} Apple-Samsung: Can't We All Just Get Along? Bolaji Ojo I can't wait for Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (Korea: SEC) to wrap up their courtroom fight. The war has been nasty, the evidence so far presented less than compelling, and the wounds inflicted barely worth a trip to the ER. If these companies would only look outside the courtroom they might realize consumers hardly care about their petty squabbling, while rivals must be thrilled their executives have been spending more time in a courtroom than in design rooms. Who's really winning here? While the mainstream press and even many in the trade media provide blanket coverage of the lawsuit over how much Apple believes Samsung should pay for allegedly blatantly copying the rectangular shape of the US-company's iPhone and iPad, or some other design pattern, I have been itching for a return to productive competition by the two combatants. The details of the lawsuit so far have been mind numbing. The story so far seems to amount to no more than the kind of jostling kids in a school yard might get into on a hot afternoon. I can just imagine a teacher trying to resolve the she-pinched-me-first-before-I-kicked-her quarrel. Apple and Samsung may not understand this, but that's how many in the consumer world view what is happening in that California courtroom. Only the stakes are so high for the two companies. I am not referring here to any monetary compensation either party might get. No. They can both handle whatever the jury decides if it awards financial compensation for either party. In Apple's case, it can easily write a check from its more than $100 billion in cash and securities. Also Samsung, which along with its courtroom rival has pocketed most of the industry profits from wireless handset sales, has deep enough pockets to handle the $2.5 billion or so Apple is demanding if the case is decided in its favor. But after the "he-said, she-said" that the two companies have spouted so far in the courtroom they will still both have to return to the market for the real duel for marketshare. Nothing dramatic has so far been revealed in court -- nothing, in any case, that would make consumers believe Samsung has been such a blatant violator of copyright or patent laws that they should shun the company's products. Apple may win the case on legal nuance, but it may lose in the court of public opinion where many are beginning to think the entire legal war is being waged to slow down a competitor rather than because Samsung has been egregious in copying Apple products. Of course, diehard Apple fans will disagree, and others will buy the company's products no matter what noxious fumes have been emitted in the courtroom. I've believed from the beginning that it's the lawyers who will walk away as winners once the dust settles on the patent litigations that have mushroomed over the last couple of years, pitching most of the industry's leading manufacturers against each other. While there's a place for litigation, the evidence Apple has presented so far does not rise to that level, and whatever Samsung will be presenting over the next week as it makes its counter-argument will equally sway very few. Neither can claim ownership of many of the key technologies in wireless communication, and neither is going to win customer patronage by seeking to blunt a competitor's edge in this manner. While writing this article, I thought again of Motorola Mobility Inc. (NYSE: MMI) and Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) and the challenges facing these two companies. They were once leaders in this market, but their current positions tell us where winners are decided. Motorola Mobility is a wounded company; its new owner, Google. announced yesterday the company will be laying off 4,000 employees worldwide in an effort to be profitable. Nokia has announced similar large-scale job cuts. Neither Apple nor Samsung were notable players in this market even 10 years ago when Motorola and Nokia ruled the wireless world. The two emerged from adjacent markets to dethrone the established players. So, here's my blunt message to the two companies: While you fight your silly courtroom wars and take your executives' attention away from the real battlefield, new rivals are plumbing holes in your market and eyeing the huge profits you hauled away last year. They are on your blind side, and you may not even know who they are. They won't win this year or even in the near future, but the profit you are harvesting in wireless is too tempting, and you've opened up a crack for them to explore. Inflict dangerous wounds on each other. It will only help the unknown, maybe even the unborn, rivals.