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Samsung’s Shin Jong-kyun will meet with Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt in Seoul tomorrow, and it’s a safe bet the topic of Apple will come up.
The Samsung Mobile chief confirmed today that he will meet with Schmidt on Thursday in Seoul, according to the Korea Times. Shin was mum on details, so the agenda is unknown. The Samsung executive also said that meetings with major U.S. carriers are scheduled for next week.
But the meeting with Schmidt comes a little more than a month after Samsung lost a major patent case to Apple in the U.S. The jury verdict found that Samsung knowingly infringed on Apple patents and awarded the iPhone maker more than $1 billion in damages.
The case drags on, with Apple now asking for $3 billion in damages and a wider ban on Samsung products. Samsung is not giving up without a fight, going so far as to request a new trial based on allegations of jury misconduct.
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Google tried to distance itself from the verdict, saying that the patents in question “don’t relate to the core Android operating system.” But the ongoing legal battles do ultimately pose a problem for Google.
Apple has focused its legal bouts on manufacturers such as Samsung. But the fight is really about Android, so Google has a vested interest in protecting its Android partners.
A representative for Google Korea declined to give the Korea Times any details about Schmidt’s meeting plans.
Google declined to comment to CNET, while Samsung said that its reps in Korea were unavailable.
In the face of legal turmoil, Samsung revealed promising projections in the phone arena.
The company now expects to sell 400 million mobile phones this year, an upgrade from the 370 million previously forecast. Those numbers will certainly be aided by the flagship Galaxy S3, which could generate sales of 30 million or more by year’s end, according to Samsung.
Update, 10:30 a.m. PT: Adds responses from Google and Samsung.
