Samsung Waited Until Death of Steve Jobs to Start Attacking Apple

It's said that all is fair in love and war, and apparently that extends to business as well, even if it means taking advantage of a competitor during one of the darkest moments in their corporate history.

AppleInsider today reported that even more internal memos have been drudged up in the ongoing Apple v. Samsung trial, and the latest communiqués paint a rather ugly picture of Samsung executives in the wake of former Apple CEO Steve Jobs' death.

In early October, 2011, executives from Samsung Telecommunications America grappled with the implications of Apple's just-launched iPhone 4S and accompanying iOS 5 and how it would affect their own Galaxy S II smartphone. Because Apple was considered a large customer of the parent company's components, the Korean manufacturer avoided directly attacking Cupertino as part of its marketing strategy.

That is, until October 5, when Apple co-founder Steve Jobs passed away.

According to emails presented this week as part of the current Apple v. Samsung patent tussle, Samsung Vice-President Michael Pennington suggested a change in strategy only days after Jobs' death, which the executive claims had "unintended" positive benefits for Cupertino.

"Unfortunately, Steve Job's [sic] passing has led to a huge wave of press coverage of Apple's and iPhone's 'superiority,' all created by the 'passionate, tireless, perfectionist...'" Pennington wrote. "What consumer wouldn't feel great about purchasing a device developed by such a person.

"Sorry to continue to push this issue, but I have seen this far too long and I know this is our best opportunity to attack iPhone," Pennington concluded.

The recommendation was taken to heart by Samsung's Chief Marketing Officer Todd Pendleton, who initiated a plan to go "head to head with iPhone 4S" with "a very aggressive strategy" during the 2011 holiday season.

"In the process we will demystify the perceived Apple advantage (ecosystem/services) by showing how consumers can easily switch to Android and have more personalization/more choice by being part of the Samsung ecosystem," Pendleton added.

Although this new evidence may not do much to support Apple's claims that Samsung copied the look and feel of the iPhone, it certainly portrays the Korean manufacturer as an overly aggressive competitor with little regard for one of their biggest clients.

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