Apple has succeeded in its court bid to temporarily block Samsung from selling its Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet in Australia.
An Australian court earlier today ordered Samsung not to sell the device until the patent violation trial concludes.
Samsung has already indicated that any enforced delay introducing the device would render its plans for the device in the nation “dead.”
The company will probably be unable to take advantage of the Christmas sales period, because it will not be ready for the trial until next year, Bloombergreported. And the increasingly short technology lifecycle for tablets and smartphones could mean that even if Samsung is cleared to sell the device in the market, it would be obsolete by the time sales could commence.
But according toThe Australian, the court is not due to hand down its exact directions until Friday, leaving open the possibility that Samsung willstill be able to sell the modified version of the tablet prepared for the market.
Samsung made the alterations in a bid to appease Apple, but Apple has asked for an order to block sales of this version as well.
Apple is suing Samsung in several markets, alleging that the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and the Galaxy S II smartphone copy the designs of the iPad and iPhone respectively. Samsung has also filed a number of counter-suits against Apple over alleged patent infringement.
Samsung meanwhile has been employing guerilla marketing tactics to get back at Apple, setting up a temporary shop in Sydney all-but-next-door to the city's Apple store. Here, the vendor is selling Samsung Galaxy SII smartphones for just A$2 ahead of the Australian launch of the iPhone 4S.