Obama Administration Overrules iPhone Trade Ban

Back in June, the U.S. International Trade Commission issued an import ban on the iPhone 4 and iPad 2 3G due to patent violations. Now, the White House has exercised its privilege to overrule the ban. In his letter to the ITC (PDF), Ambassador Michael Froman said 'he was not making a decision about the merits of Samsung's case, or its right to seek compensation. Rather, he emphasized that because the patent in question was now a widely held technology standard, banning the products in question would be too disruptive to consumers and the economy.' This is the first time an ITC decision has been overruled since 1987.

Comments

You know

[oldhack]

Money buys a lot.

Re:You know

[Anonymous Coward]

It also probably doesn't hurt that Apple is a US based corporation, while Samsung is Korean. I'd bet if this was a Samsung vs Asus or Sony dispute, the Obama administration would not have stepped in.

Re:You know

[dmbasso]

Now when a 3rd-world country decides to ignore pharmaceutical patents to save its people from dying, that is crossing the line! Retaliation through economic restrictions must apply!

Re:You know

[Dunbal]

US based corporation? You mean the one publicly traded on the stock exchange, with manufacturing facilities in China? The one that ships iPhones and iPads directly from China? Or is it because they have an office in Cupertino that you consider them US based?

Re:You know

[am 2k]

It's designed by Apple in California, it says so on back side of the case!

Re:You know

[samkass]

US based corporation? You mean the one publicly traded on the stock exchange, with manufacturing facilities in China? The one that ships iPhones and iPads directly from China? Or is it because they have an office in Cupertino that you consider them US based?

But where is the value added? Every other phone maker in the world makes their phones in the exact same factories in China. Why aren't they all worth the same amount? Almost every dollar of value added over a simple sum of the cost of the parts (plus a couple dollars for assembly) is added in California. And even after the sale, Apple's call centers are all in the US to help get them their astronomical satisfaction numbers. Apple's about as US-based a corporation as you can get in that industry.

Re: You know

[SvnLyrBrto]

That "office in Cupertino" is a campus the size of a small college plus satellite offices throughout the rest of town. It employs well over ten thousand people. And those are the high-value, well-paying jobs that propel people into the upper-middle class and beyond.

Really, what's with the obsession with the location that a widget is put together, when the design, programming, and engineering (The good, high-value jobs that I'd actually like to have.) are all done here?

Re: You know

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually a lot of the engineering is done in Asia:

* The screen is designed and built by Sharp in Japan.
* The CPU and SoC is designed and built by Samsung and/or Exynos in Korea.
* The Plastic tooling and dies are designed by a subcontractor to Hon Hai in Shen Zhen from designs for the part from Apple or a subcontractor in California (or possibly elsewhere)
* The motion estimation parts are designed by Intersil in California
* The production system is designed and managed by Hon Hai in Shen Zhen
* The Flash is designed by Samsung or Micron in Korea or Taiwan

It's safe to say it is an international collaboration, but they don't say that, they just say "Designed by Apple in California".

The obsession with where the widget is made is because some people have some foresight and can see that once you give all your manufacturing capability (the hard bit) to another country, it won't take that long for that country to figure out the design (the easy bit), and cut you out of the loop. In fact this happened and now look at the Samsung Galaxy and all the Chinese Android devices (which are nearly as good and much, much cheaper). I can buy a near-equivalent to a Galaxy tablet for US$99 from Ali Express.

Re:Strangely...

[Rantank]

Seems to me the Prez just gave permission for good wholesome American companies to take on anyone they like, and if they lose in any way, shape or form, he'll make sure there's no real harm done. I wonder how long before foreign companies start ring-fencing America as just too expensive and corrupt to operate in.

Re:Strangely...

[sconeu]

And Apple has refused to license those patents. They have refused to negotiate to license them. They have even stated that they will not accept a court-ordered license fee unless they happen to think it's low enough.

Tell me, oh wise one, what other recourse did Samsung have?

Re:Strangely...

[Tough Love]

It's the President's job to put US interests above all others.

But not above the rule of law.

Re:Strangely...

[a_n_d_e_r_s]

Well, they often seem to like to put them before even the US constitution...

Overreaching surveillance by NSA with PRISM and torture in Guantanamo bay are not fiction.

Re:Strangely...

[Nerdfest]

Between this and the PRISM bullshit, the US just went on my "don't buy from" list. Congratulations, your government has absolutely no regard for honour or fair play.

Actually, Apple's more an Irish corporation

[Anonymous Coward]

Almost every dollar of value added over a simple sum of the cost of the parts (plus a couple dollars for assembly) is added in California.

Apple has filed legal documents that say that's untrue, and in May Tim Cook testified in front of The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations where he reiterated that a large percentage of the dollar value added by Apple is added in Ireland.

Re:Sure

[KingMotley]

Of course the last time the ITC was overruled was in 1987, siding WITH SAMSUNG. Lol.