In june Samsung won a lawsuit filed against the company Apple Lossless Audio CODEC (ALAC), and obtained a decision by which Americans will be denied the right to import and sell terminals in the USA iPhone 4 and tablets iPad 2. The process was based on the infringement of some patents related to certain telecommunications technologies, and in order to protect their devices, those from Apple Lossless Audio CODEC (ALAC), ITC request, the commission that issued the prohibition order, to suspend the decision. Apple claims that in 2012 the iPhone 4 ranked 4th in the list of the most popular smartphones in the US, and its removal from sale would seriously affect the company.
If the Orders go into effect, Apple will lose not only sales of its iPhone 4 (GSM) and iPad 2 3G (GSM) products but also the opportunity to gain new smartphone and tablet customers who otherwise would have purchased these entry-level Apple devices . The products subject to the Commission's orders have been purchased by [REDACTED]. They remain very popular and are strong sellers for the GSM carriers. As noted above, the GSM carriers will be placed at a competitive disadvantage against their CDMA competitors because the Orders will prevent them from offering these popular, entry-level devices.
Supporting their position, the people from Apple also bring into discussion a process that they have with Samsung in another American court, a process through which the people from Samsung could receive compensation if it turns out that Apple has violated the patents, so removing the products from sale would be pointless. Apple planned to keep the iPhone 4 and iPad 2 for another year on the markets around the world, so this decision is extremely problematic, and could seriously affect sales, the possibility of removing the devices from sale being extremely real.
