Over 4 million Samsung phones require servicing every year
What's the story
Samsung has revealed that over 4 million smartphones from the company are serviced every year. According to Timothy Sheppard, vice president of operations and finance at Samsung, the company received 4 million to 5 million smartphones between 2010 and 2012 in the US for repairing damages. Further, the return rate of Samsung smartphones brought in due to broken screens was 1 million.
Context
The information was revealed during a court trial
Samsung revealed this while testifying in a California Court in the backdrop of a seven-year-old patent infringement case against Apple. Samsung has allegedly infringed upon Apple's three design patents: quick links to phone numbers, the slide-to-unlock feature, and the auto-correct function. As compensation, Apple is seeking $1 billion from Samsung while the latter is trying to get the settlement amount down to $28 million.
Details
Why did Samsung voluntarily release the unflattering information?
While Apple claims that $1 billion is equivalent to the profit Samsung has made using its designs, Samsung is arguing that damages should be based on profits from individual infringing components, and not on total smartphone sales. To persuade the jury that it's possible to disassemble phones into constituent components and calculate their profits, Samsung is establishing its repair operation as a big business.
Information
The legal dispute dates back to 2011
In 2011, Apple first sued Samsung. In 2012, the jury verdict was for Samsung to pay Apple $1.05 billion for infringing on Apple's three design patents. In 2015, Samsung managed to bring down the compensation to $400 million.