Apple and Samsung have been trading legal blows for the past several months and today one of the results of that court fight is that Samsung"s new 10.1 inch version of its Galaxy Tab tablet won"t be put on sale in Australia. Bloomberg reports that Samsung itself has agreed not to sell or advertised the tablet in Australia until it wins its court fight or makes some kind of settlement deal with Apple.
Apple has been fighting Samsung over a dispute surrounding a number of patents that Apple claims Samsung has violated in terms of the designs of its smartphones and tablets including the Galaxy Tab 10.1. That includes the "look and feel" of the touch pad for the tablet which Apple says violates the patents it holds for its rival and much more popular iPad. If Samsung happens to win the court battle with Apple, Apple has agreed to pay back damages to Samsung.
While the iPad is still the highest selling tablet device, despite a lot of competition, it appears that Samsung"s Galaxy Tab has been the most successful among the many rivals. Keeping the tablet out of Australia will likely slow down the overall worldwide sales of the Galaxy Tab 10.1. Interestingly, the article states that Apple is also seeking to halt sales of the Galaxy Tab in other countries as well. Apple would not say which countries it was trying to keep sales of the Galaxy Tab. Meanwhile, Samsung recently announced it would no longer reveal specific sales numbers of its smartphones or tablets.