Why Apple sued Samsung

[Commentary] Asymco's Horace Dediu says the real reason Apple sued Samsung (and Motorola and HTC) to send a signal. "Signal to competitors, partners, customers and employees. In other words, they are used to create psychological effects." Dediu believes there are better ways to send signals -- through advertising, say, or the products themselves. But Apple had a different kind of signal to send, one that couldn't be delivered in an ad. The real reason Apple sued Samsung, I believe, is the one The Loop's Jim Dalrymple laid out in early August, before the trial began.

"Apple has a purpose for everything it does, including this lawsuit," he wrote in a piece entitled Apple's motivation for suing Samsung. “There can be no doubt that Apple has some clever, perhaps industry changing products in the pipeline over the next few years. Although none us know for sure what those products are, if they are truly disruptive, like the iPhone and iPad, it's in Apple's best interests to stop Samsung now. This will effectively cut off the worst offender of companies copying its products in their tracks.”