Australian Retailer Dmavo Will Sell Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, Currently Blocked In Australia

The headline on the Sydney Morning Herald's story says it all: "Defiant retailer gives Apple the finger."

Dmavo, an Australian electronics retail website, is now selling the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, even though Apple won a temporary injunction banning sales of the iPad competitor nationwide in an Australian court this past October. The website has moved its servers and registered as a separate, foreign company, according to an interview with dMavo managing director Wojtek Czarnocki published in the Sydney Morning Herald. (Click here to view the questionably legal sales page for the Australian Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1.)

Dmavo is not the first Australian company to circumvent the court's injunction in order to sell the seemingly popular Samsung slates. GigaOM points out that Mobicity, an Aussie mobile retailer, also markets the Galaxy Tab on its website, claiming protection due to the fact that it is Hong Kong-owned.

From a Mobicity forum explaining how the retailer was able to sell Samsung tablets in Australia:

The company [Mobicity] is however a Hong Kong entity and goods are shipped direct from our warehouse by express courier direct to our happy customers. Therefore the transaction takes place in Hong Kong and not subject to Apple's legal action in the region.

The hearing that will decide whether patents were indeed infringed upon and whether or not the Australian ban is permanent is scheduled for November 25, per the Sydney Morning Herald; after the temporary injunction was granted, Samsung issued a statement defending its tablet, declaring that it was "disappointed with this ruling" and that the company would "take all necessary measures, including legal action, in order to ensure our innovative products are available to consumers."

This gambit by an Australian retailer is the latest in the long-running, international patent wars being waged between Apple and Samsung. Apple sued and won over the Galaxy Tab in Australia; Samsung is currently suing over the iPhone 4S in South Korea, despite having lost attempts to block iPad AND iPhone sales in the Netherlands; Apple, meanwhile, is suing Samsung over unidentified patents concerning Android in the United Kingdom, though it should be noted that Apple's suit is a countersuit against Samsung having sued Apple in the UK earlier in 2011. Lately, Samsung has been seeking to ban iPhone 4S sales in France, Italy and the United Kingdom, all while Apple sues Samsung in U.S. courts over the Galaxy Tab's similarity to the iPad.

Samsung recently leapfrogged Apple to become the number one smartphone-seller in the world in Q3, though most expect Apple to regain that title in Q4 once iPhone 4S sales are tallied.

In Australia, meanwhile, the battle between Apple and Samsung rages on. Neither Apple nor Samsung have commented on the elusive selling strategies of Dmavo or Mobicity; presumably the two technology giants will do their talking in court.

Comments

[dMavo]

08:47 AM on 11/11/2011

Hi everyone,

The current injunction only applies to Samsung Australia and NOBODY else. Apple's threats and antics against all 3rd parties, ourselves included, in an attempt to stop the sales of those tablets, had not been well received especially as Apple's demands have no legal basis.

The above is especially true where Apple had demanded to obtain private data about consumers who had bought the Samsung Galaxy 10.1 tablet from us, which would be a clear breach of the Privacy Act should we comply.

November 25 is when Samsung Australia is appealing the injunction so it will be very interesting to see what happens on that day and beyond.

At this stage, we have no intention to bow to Apple's intimidation tactics as they have no right to make the demands they had made.

Read the current Court Orders here:
https://www.comcourts.gov.au/file/Federal/P/NSD1243/2011/actions

We'd like everyone to be a bit more informed about the current situation in OZ and hence we have taken to comment on a number of articles around the globe.

Stay tuned!

Cheers,
dMavo

www.dmavo.com.au

[Banghouse]

11:05 AM on 11/12/2011

Bravo!!! You have my support.

[dMavo]

07:43 AM on 11/16/2011

Thank you :)

dMavo

[Banghouse]

11:10 AM on 11/12/2011

.......

[KarateKid]

10:00 AM on 11/10/2011

"Samsung issued a statement defending its tablet, declaring that it was "disappointed with this ruling" and that the company would "take all necessary measures, including legal action, in order to ensure our innovative products are available to consumers."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
They should have said "......in order to ensure our imitations are available to consumers."

[themidnightreview]

07:42 PM on 11/22/2011

How is it an imitation?

[jsgaetano]

01:22 AM on 11/10/2011

By trying to win in the courts rather than the market, Apple has revealed how desperate they are. Their monopoly is crumbling.

[matt spedale]

12:37 PM on 11/09/2011

I remember when everyone pulled for apple because they were the underdog.

[Mister Grumpy]

12:39 PM on 11/09/2011

Now Apple is just plain dog..........

[Bob Metcalfe]

03:18 PM on 11/09/2011

Jobs became Gates.

[666dorado]

11:06 AM on 11/09/2011

funny how some people hate apple so much that they are willing to advocate and support asian piracy.

[Mister Grumpy]

12:42 PM on 11/09/2011

Apple did it to itself when they chose to have their products manufactured in China........ to think their manufacturing processes wouldn't be stolen just shows they're nieve.........

[666dorado]

01:01 PM on 11/09/2011

a company doesn't have to physically be in china or asia to steal ideas. just look at chinese software or dvd piracy.

[KarateKid]

09:55 AM on 11/10/2011

Name me one computer company that doesn't manufacture in China.

[DefineReality]

02:28 PM on 11/09/2011

Funny you support a company who's so un-American like Apple...

[666dorado]

02:54 PM on 11/09/2011

who said i suppot apple? and how are they un-american? they employ 40,000 people IN THE U.S., i have many friends who work at apple in both the austin and cupertino campus's...

and don't tell me that manufacturing their electronics overseas is unamerican, cuz everyone else is doing it as well. it's the only way to stay competitive.

[666dorado]

10:49 AM on 11/09/2011

whatever. before the ipad, nobody even wanted a tablet.

[themidnightreview]

07:43 PM on 11/22/2011

I still dont want one!

[Deborah]

09:36 AM on 11/09/2011

My husband's workplace just purchased the Samsung 10.1 for all employees. I purchased one after experiencing this tablet. It is as close to perfect as a tablet can be!
LOVE this tablet. If you haven't tried it, you cannot believe how good it is!

[theveggiedude]

11:30 AM on 11/09/2011

I prefer iPad. It has true 24-bit color whereas your tablet has to dither 16-bit color.

[Banghouse]

11:55 AM on 11/09/2011

Apple could put its logo on dog-poo and you'd say it was the best thing you ever had. puhleeze!

[DefineReality]

02:29 PM on 11/09/2011

Yup, because every normal person can tell the difference between 24 bit color and 16 bit color on such a small screen..

[nowpolitics]

09:34 AM on 11/09/2011

Way to go. Apple should know better and drop the frivolous lawsuit.

[brandon20678]

09:29 AM on 11/09/2011

Apple is the new Microsoft of the 1990s. The reason we can innovate is because Our companies are to busy suing each other.

[666dorado]

10:47 AM on 11/09/2011

wrong. google is the new microsoft.

[Lupernikes]

01:41 PM on 11/09/2011

My point is simple; if the iPad (and i own one, just so you know I'm not a blind hater) is that much better, more reasonably priced and in all ways better to the other tabs out there, why do they need to try and quash competition so much?

[ThinkHappyThoughts]

09:07 AM on 11/09/2011

Guess Apple hates competition.

[Candide33]

08:55 AM on 11/09/2011

OH so that is how Apple has such high sales... buying politicians to pass corrupt laws and give them an unfair advantage.

[mjredder]

08:56 AM on 11/09/2011

Those who can't compete, litigate.

[helioszephyr]

09:40 AM on 11/09/2011

those who can't compete blatantly copy.

[No Yards]

10:11 AM on 11/09/2011

Is that a direct Jobs quote referring to his style of "innovation", or are you just paraphrasing?

[mjredder]

10:21 AM on 11/09/2011

Steve Jobs himself famously said "Good artists copy, great artists steal." So what was your point again?

[ccrevecoeur78]

07:48 AM on 11/09/2011

The Samsung galaxy Tab 10.1 looks nothing like the Ipad 2

[PhillyKing]

12:58 PM on 11/09/2011

i have a 10.1 and i must say they look exactly alike... they're both rectangle and thin... yup exact... i mean the back is completely different... and once they're both turned on, they couldn't poss be confused for each other... but come on... we both know apple invented the rectangle :-)

[DefineReality]

02:34 PM on 11/09/2011

But wait... do they both have icons and apps? Because THAT would push it over the edge and make it a carbon copy of the iPhad

[Thomas River]

07:02 AM on 11/09/2011

That front picture does a pretty good job of illustration why there is a lawsuit.

[Thomas River]

07:04 AM on 11/09/2011

OFFS. "illustrating".

[ccrevecoeur78]

07:50 AM on 11/09/2011

So if its rectangular and its black therefore it's an Ipad please give a break

[Thomas River]

07:57 AM on 11/09/2011

It is obvious that Samsung intended to copy the look as much as possible. There are various other vendors who succeeded in making a "rectangular and black" tablet that is easily distinguishable from the iPad. Sorry, but thats the simple truth.

[maxpain]

06:10 AM on 11/09/2011

One more reason not to buy Apple products.