Proposal Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Proposal - Article Example Infringing products have consequently been targeted for a ban in the United States, including Samsung's front line, iconic Galaxy series phones. The message seems to be this, that Apple will protect its American turf from Samsung, which it views as largely copying Apple's designs and technologies for the iPhone. The peripheral goal, too, is to make sure that Samsung is put on notice as Apple brings the fight to other markets and legal jurisdictions the world over. There are big underlying logistics and design considerations that are tied to these battles, apart from the patents, but the patent front is the busiest by far, and most visible. This is owing to the fact that in the smart phone market, whoever holds the patents for key technologies and innovations have the ability to dictate the terms of their use. Meanwhile, what complicates the picture is that both rely on economies of scale and efficiency in parts production and sourcing. Moreover, tied to this, Samsung is also a suppli er of essential components of smart phones to Apple. This being the case, it is difficult for the two players to untangle themselves from the patent mess that they find themselves in. For Samsung it is a delicate balancing act, because as much as they need to compete in smart phones, they also rely on Apple to shore up their own components business, and losing Apple would amount to losing a valuable components customer. For Apple, the tussles with Samsung on the smart phones front highlights their need to find alternative suppliers for essential components (Lohr, 2012; Lloyd et al., 2011; Cromar, 2010; Gerardin and Layne-Farrar, 2011; Seppala and Kenney, 2012; Layne-Farrar, 2012; Boldrin and Levine, 2012; Siren, 2011; Gotts and Sher, 2012; Hagiu and Yoffie, 2011; Allison et al., 2012). Problem Formulation The literature review has highlighted the need for innovation around key aspects of technology, components, design, and software for both Samsung and Apple moving forward. Also, as far as Samsung is concerned, Apple's litigation win underscores the need to shore up Samsung's intellectual property portfolio in order to protect its smart phones business and to make sure that Samsung continues to dominate the market in the future. One key problem is that while Samsung has an enviable position as a key manufacturer of essential smart phones components, and benefits from scale economies by being so, its reliance on Android and its seeming problems with defending itself from intellectual property lawsuits from Apple and other firms makes it vulnerable. The problem is how is Samsung to position itself and to spend its money and resources so that it is able to get itself into a better position relative to the intellectual property battles it is engaged in with Apple and other firms (Lohr, 2012; Lloyd et al., 2011; Cromar, 2010; Gerardin and Layne-Farrar, 2011; Seppala and Kenney, 2012; Layne-Farrar, 2012; Boldrin and Levine, 2012; Siren, 2011; Gotts and Sher, 2012; H agiu and Yoffie, 2011; Allison et al., 2012). . Proposal This is a proposal that takes off from the problem formulation above, and tries to come up with a viable strategy for Samsung relative to its competitors in the global smart phones market. That strategy has to address the gap in Samsung's arsenal of patents related to innovations in basic technologies, components, and design, among other things. The proposal is to explore different strategic options