In any industry there is always going to be competition, matter how big your company has become. Take Apple for example, known as one of the biggest and most recognisable brands in the world for years, and one of its biggest rivals has been Microsoft. A brand which is just as successful and popular, it’s tried its hand with many different aspects in the field of technology, but they have never quite managed to overtake Apple.

More recently over the years, Samsung has caused some friction for Apple, trying desperately to overtake the market leader, so consequently, the two companies are often trying to ‘one up’ each other, and recently this has been in the eyes of the courts.

The brief version of the battle currently in circulation in the Apple/Samsung war, is that Apple claims that Samsung has stolen and used design templates, which were used for the iPhone models. Although currently in the news, this particular altercation started in 2011, and five years later in 2016 it was demoted to lower court, but now it has escalated to a full on court battle in San Jose, California.

You might think that Apple’s argument for Samsung’s infringement is a bit flimsy, Apple is determined that Samsung owes funds to Apple because Samsung uses the same rectangular shape that its iPhone muse pioneered. The phone’s shape isn’t the only feature in debate, however it is the main feature which is often mentioned and is perhaps the most obvious similarity between the phones.

By the current status it appears Samsung seems to be losing in the legal department, however it is arguably more successful when it comes to Mixed Reality. By Mixed Reality, they mean mixing augmented reality with virtual reality. Apart from this, there isn’t much else we know for sure that is to be included in this new project, however there is speculation that the headsets are ‘high priced’, which is unsurprising, and they are to be shown in August this year.

It is known, however, that Samsung aren’t doing this alone, as they have teamed up with one of the other biggest rivals of Apple, Microsoft, to pioneer this technology.

It could be seen that Samsung is trying to add the fact they are specialising in mixed reality to their USP’s, and USP’s are very important as every brand needs ways to stand out from the competition. In the technology industry especially, it pays to be the first to innovate a new way of using technology, and both Apple and Samsung are fully aware of this, and have therefore participated in various races to be the first to release products that have new and exciting functions. So, it is an important achievement that Samsung has released their mixed reality before Apple.

To conclude, Apple and Samsung seem to be winning various battles but it’s unclear who will win this war, and if the war can be one at all. As long as both companies are making money, quite a substantial amount of it as well, surely they are both winners?

Apple and Samsung court case

https://www.cnet.com/news/apple-and-samsung-face-off-again-in-san-jose-california-court-over-design-patents/

Mixed reality

http://www.trustedreviews.com/news/samsung-wireless-headset-ar-vr-3470456

https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/samsung-microsoft-wireless-windows-mixed-reality/