Samsung's Retina Display threatens Apple's February iPad 3

By Jonny Evans

Apple [AAPL] and Samsung will go head-to-head next February when both firms introduce high-res 'Retina Display' tablets. This latest 'innovation' by Apple's former supplier goes a long way toward explaining why Cupertino is incandescent with its South Korean rival.

Why can't you just get along?

Can you blame Apple for feeling this way? Not only has its former supplier copied iPhone and iPad designs (in my opinion), but its legal teams are playing a game of dumb insolence in the vitally important US litigation, and its forest of iPhone-inspired devices break the '677 patent pretty much.

Now both firms plan to introduce Retina Display tablets early next year:

-- Citi analyst, Richard Gardner cites "several sources" who claim a new high-res iPad 3 will be introduced in February. The screen will boast double the resolution of the iPad 2. Apple has resolved technical challenges for the displays which are reportedly manufactured by Sharp. Reading between the lines, Sharp likely also has a role in manufacture of Apple televisions.

-- BGR claims Samsung plans to go toe-to-toe. That company is developing an 11.6-inch tablet running Android 4.0. Proving Samsung hasn't taken Apple's recent design advice, the claimed 2,560-x-1,600 resolution tablet will have a thinner bezel than the 'Tab and may host dual-core chips.

[ABOVE: An Apple education-focused iPad video, but what resources for education does Samsung offer your children?]

Sifting the chatter

Digitimes last month claimed iPad 3 display manufacture had already begun, with three million made by the end of November.

A second report warns us to expect the next-gen iPad to be a high-res version of iPad 2, with a second and more radical redesign scheduled for late 2012. Apple is also looking to implement a new dual LED lightbar technology. I imagine new processor maker TSMC should be able to manufacture A6 processors in quantity by later in 2012.

Making sense of it all these rumors sure is tricky, so here's a potential storyline -- do you think it makes sense?

Apple will introduce the iPad 2 HD in February/March, following this with a fall release of the iPad 3. The iPad 2 HD will be almost identical to the iPad 2, but with the high-res screen, while the iPad 3 will boast new features and an A6 processor. How does that story sound?

A fair fight?

Samsung versus Apple is a cut-throat fight. Cut-throat? Take a look at how Apple describes Samsung's behavior during the current US court case, as reported by FOSS Patents:

"Samsung has produced almost no documents relating to Apple's offensive case [the claims and counter-counterclaims Apple brought against Samsung; in the same litigation, there are also counterclaims brought by Samsung against Apple, which used to be a separate lawsuit until both cases were consolidated into one] since its Preliminary Injunction production in early October 2011. Since October 13, 2011, the date of the Preliminary Injunction hearing in this case, Samsung has produced only 71 documents totaling 241 pages in connection with Apple's infringement claims against Samsung. [...] All of those 71 documents were attachments that had been missing from e-mails Samsung had produced with its Preliminary Injunction production. [...] Apple, meanwhile, has produced over one million pages in connection with its infringement claims against Samsung."

Apple is arguing that the most recent judgment be overturned and that Samsung provide it with the information it needs to fight its case. Samsung may have won a recent skirmish in the US case, but hasn't yet won the war.

Where's the money?

The fight seems so personal you could be forgiven if you imagined Samsung was making good money in this space.

Perhaps it does, but the above graphic (courtesy of alltomac.se) tells a different story -- it continues to struggle for revenue share with other Android manufacturers. Of course, it is perhaps anachronistic to consider that the center of tech innovation will always be in the US, perhaps one day South Korea will seize that crown. Perhaps it might employ some good designers.

What's key as Cupertino fights to maintain US technology industry leadership against its South Korean ex-ally is the new challenges of battling a diversified foe. Apple's approach has traditionally been to offer few product configurations, but to ensure these are better than the alternatives. In battle with Samsung, however, Apple is under increasing pressure to offer solutions for the high, mid and low-end markets.

Is diversification the answer?

Will the company succumb to this pressure? It already has, I feel. Think on this: Apple already sells three configurations of iPhone: the iPhone 3GS (which will reportedly shift two million units this season); the iPhone 4 (both GSM and CDMA versions) and iPhone 4S. Why not offer a similar range in the tablet space?

The ultimate question is if Samsung's tablets will dent Apple's iPad marketshare? Clearly the numerous lawsuits between the two firms show that both think they have a real fight on their hands. I don't think Apple will suffer too much, at first. Instead I think Samsung's direct Android tablet competitors (well, those few that remain) need to be most concerned, while Amazon eats the low-end market.

Ultimately victory in the Samsung v. Apple tablet battle will be won through user experience and satisfaction, product features, and, given the economic realities of today, price.

Looking ahead, 2012 certainly seems set to be an interesting year in tech, don't you think?

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Editor's Note:  The description of Samsung's behavior above was updated to indicate that the words are from Apple, via FOSS Patents.  Further, comments to this post are now closed, and existing comments have been removed in their entirety.