Samsung tablet banned in Germany

samsung galaxy tab 2Samsung has finally seen the death knell come down on its Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Germany. A Düsseldorf district court today ruled that the company’s German arm are forbidden from selling the device anywhere in the European Union as it’s too similar to Apple’s iPad 2.

A Samsung spokesperson told pcworld.com, “We are disappointed with this ruling and believe it severely limits consumer choice in Germany.”

He continued, “By imposing an injunction based on this very generic design right, this ruling restricts design innovation and progress in the industry.”

The case goes to show the lengths that some technology firms will go to stifle innovation in order to protect their own products. In Apple’s defence the Samsung device is remarkably similar to their own device. Short of creating a tablet that is some weird 10-sided shape it’s going to be mighty hard to release something that is completely unique. The one piece of advice we’d give Apple is that they shouldn’t worry about anything that doesn’t have their fruit on the back.

Apple’s continued tough stance towards Samsung just goes to show one thing – they’re shitting their pants that Android will continue to grow and grow. The news Apple: you’re going to need to wardrobe full of underwear at this rate. The latest industry figures show that Google’s OS surpassed Apple worldwide and there’s only one thing that they lack – a device with said fruit adorning the backside.

The world’s largest company may be additionally worried by the fact that Samsung’s growth has seen it rise so much that it’s now within 20million device shipments in the smartphone market.

The two sides battling it out won’t worry the mobile gaming industry one iota. The ruling won’t affect anyone that already owns a Samsung Galaxy device and Android customers would be best advised to either wait for the court ruling to pass or opt for any number of the other devices on offer. The gaming industry is unlikely to see any slowing in their mobile growth because of this and if Betfair’s results are anything to go by then there’s plenty of growth left.

One aside – wouldn’t it be amusing if all along Steve Jobs was advising Samsung on new devices and is revealed as their new CEO? Now that I would pay to see!