Samsung pulled its display and any marketing materials for the Galaxy Tab 7.7
following an injunction granted to Apple
by German courts.
Initial reports after Samsung pulled the
tablet from
the trade show said that Samsung did so voluntarily, but new information has
come to light that it was an actual injunction filed by Apple that prompted the
removal of the Galaxy Tab 7.7. The new tablet was announced on Thursday,
September 1, and Apple was granted the injunction on Friday, September 2. By
Saturday, all remnants of the Galaxy Tab 7.7 were removed from the trade show.
The Galaxy Tab 7.7 was also removed from Samsung’s German website.
It turns out that the Galaxy Tab 7.7 did
not violate the existing German injunction against the older Galaxy Tab 10.1,
but that an all-new injunction was granted specifically against the 7.7-inch
version. Since the IFA trade show was held in Berlin, Germany, Samsung was
pressured to obey the laws of the land, or else face contempt of court, which
certainly would not help its chances in the September 9 court decision on the
original injunction against the Galaxy Tab 10.1.
The doesn’t seem like a great start for
what could be a very attractive tablet to many potential customers. Many
question why Apple pursued an injunction against the device, since Apple does
not currently, nor has it in the past, produced an iPad tablet in the 7-inch
size range. As expected, Samsung has promised to continue its fight in court,
and is looking for the court to overturn the injunction.
For the remainder of the show, Samsung
placed the new Galaxy Note and Wave 3 smartphones in the display cases that once held the
Galaxy Tab 7.7
