Apple v Samsung: The Pace of Innovation Outstrips the Impact of Law

After allowing most of the dust to settle from the massive coverage of Apple’s court victory over Samsung – in which Apple was awarded more than $1B in damages and Samsung was told to stop sales of several telephone and tablet models – what we find is an unchanged market filled with customers who are unaffected.

By the time even the first appeals make their way through the various steps and levels of court, Samsung’s current in-market designs – i.e., the ones that angered Apple and led to the court decision - will be more than two years old. Given the constant pace and state of design and feature/function innovation in mobile device development and manufacturing, they will be quaint relics, like the RIM Blackberry Curves and original Moto Droids still in use. The cash award, if it is ever distributed, will amount to a relatively uncomfortable dinner check for Samsung.

What the court decision really means is that device look-and-feel, along with some basic user interaction styles, have to continue to be innovated and innovative. “New every two” used to be a plan for upgrading an aging device every two years; now its de facto meaning is a new feature, interface, color, button placement, or OS version every two months or models, whichever comes first. Users increasingly have and use multiple devices in different ways depending on location, application, network, and mood. For users, getting a new mobile device is no longer as much of a “thought+plan+action” process that involves figuring out relevant apps, OSes, coverage, networks, security, and so on. It’s much more just an “action” process: See the device, spend the cash, get the device.

In short, the court action and decision may drive some changes in how Samsung and other device designers/makers conceive, envision, and build their offerings. It may help to further accelerate development and innovation in many ways, meaning that enterprise IT and telecom executives/managers are facing even more challenges – therefore, job security? - for the next several years. The net effect on current business? Practically nothing. The next devices are already in the pipeline.

Bruce Guptill

Most research firms can explain what happened; some can explain what is happening. Saugatuck Technology excels at understanding both in order to explain what else is likely to occur, and to guide its clients toward the actions that deliver them the greatest business value while enabling the safest business path.
To accomplish this, and to continually improve the value of Saugatuck’s work to clients in a Cloud-obscured marketplace, Saugatuck SVP and Head of Research Bruce Guptill pushes his team to continually re-examine and re-invent the company’s research programs to focus more on the costs, benefits, effects, and value of an ever-changing mix of technologies and providers in different markets.
Guptill’s own technology and business background laid a solid foundation for such a flexible, yet stable, approach to IT research value for clients. His technology research work includes mobility, collaborative IT, telecom, data networking, web commerce, and electronic marketplaces; his research work for enterprise IT and business clients includes return on IT investment, total cost of IT ownership, and business planning for IT. His research and guidance on vendor channel management, market identification and development, and buyer behavior analysis has enabled hundreds of established and startup IT providers to find, enter, and profit from new and traditional markets, while helping to guide user enterprise leaders toward optimal IT procurement and vendor management.
Guptill’s research background includes several years as a VP and research director with Gartner, senior positions with TeleChoice and Robert Frances Group, and editorial work within the IDG companies, including four years as a writer and editor with NetworkWorld. His marketing business focus was honed as VP of marketing for firms ranging from custom development providers to non-IT firms in aviation and other industries. His sales and channel experience started by traveling with a sample bag, then working for IT VARs, then advising telecom and wireless carriers on partner choices, to developing partner programs for traditional and Cloud-based software development firms and ISVs.
Guptill holds an MBA in marketing and finance, and a BA in the psychology and business of mass media communication. He is licensed to fly airplanes, drive boats, and sell houses; he is also a certified baseball coach, serves on the boards of regional civic groups, and is a serial home renovator. Married with three children, Guptill resides on Cape Cod in southeastern Massachusetts, and is a lifelong fan of the Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics, and the University of Connecticut Huskies.

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