[Aju News DB]
A copyright war between Samsung Electronics and Huawei Technologies revealed the Chinese company's "elaborate and sophisticated" strategy to project its image as a global company, a South Korean economic official said Thursday.
Science, ICT and Future Planning Minister Choi Yang-hee said Huawei has been building an image as a global entity with more labs and sales abroad. "Huawei is trying to be recognized as a global company," he said after Huawei sued Samsung of using its smartphone patents.
Huawei, the world's third-largest smartphone maker after Samsung and Apple, claimed its fourth-generation cellular communications technology and software had been used in Samsung's phones without permission. Samsung vowed to file a counter-suit.
Huawei has held talks with Samsung over a cross-licensing agreement as it has done with Apple. Market watchers say Samsung and Huawei may seek a settlement out of court because the Chinese company is one of Samsung's main clients.
"I believe the suit represents its elaborate and sophisticated strategy as a global company," Choi said.
There has been a flurry of patent lawsuits in the smartphone industry, which saw a high-profile patent war between Samsung and its US rival Apple. Apple sued Samsung in 2011, accusing the South Korean company of using unlicensed technology, leading to a number of suits against each other in several countries.
Previously, Chinese firms have adopted a defensive strategy as they could face a great amount of fine due to patent violations. However, they are not only shifting their business models but the paradigm of how their products are perceived around the world, Wade Shepard said in an article carried by US business magazine Forbes.
"Following a strong push from China's central government for more innovation, companies big and small have been working to establish signature products which not only represent the transition that they themselves have gone through but also that of China," he said.
Huawei has dumped its previous business model of selling cheap products in an effort to become a globally recognizable brand and a serious contender for Apple and Samsung, he said.
"Europe, in particular, has been receptive of Huawei, where the company is growing at an unprecedented clip on the back of better products and a new brand image," Shepard said.
Aju News Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
