While Steve Jobs was intent on waging a destructive war against Samsung and Google, his successor-to-be wasn't quite convinced the mission was such a great idea.
Tim Cook, who succeeded Jobs as Apple's chief executive, did not support his boss' plan to sue Samsung, primarily because the Korean electronics giant was one of Apple's chief component suppliers.
The news comes courtesy of Reuters, who cited "people with knowledge of the matter" as its source.
The two companies are currently involved in a massive legal dispute that has spanned courtrooms around the world. In August, Samsung was ordered to pay Apple $1.05 billion for violating its patents, even though it didn't do so "willfully."
Despite the enormous cash award, Apple has so far been unsuccessful in its attempt to remove Samsung products from the marketplace. Since that was Jobs' original goal when he decided to "go thermonuclear" in his bid to protect Cupertino's smartphone dominance, his legal strategy is likely to end up with more mixed results than he would've liked.
According to the judge presiding over the case in the United States, Apple's intention to ban Samsung products doesn't hold water when the company is still extremely profitable.
"Samsung may have cut into Apple's customer base somewhat, but there is no suggestion that Samsung will wipe out Apple's customer base, or force Apple out of the business of making smartphones," wrote U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh. "The present case involves lost sales - not a lost ability to be a viable market participant."
The war between the two companies started to heat up back in 2010, when Samsung released its first Android-based smartphone, the Galaxy S. Both Jobs and Cook personally complained to Samsung's executives that the device resembled the iPhone to an alarming degree, and they expected the company to change its design to avoid further disputes.
A few months later, Samsung released the Galaxy Tab to compete with the iPad, and Jobs couldn't take it anymore.
Although Cook opposed the strategy due to Apple's reliance on Samsung chips, Jobs thought the Korean company was using their close relationship to scare off Apple from taking action. In April 2011, Apple filed a suit against Samsung, and the two have been locked in battle ever since.
Last month, Judge Koh denied Apple's request for an extra $400 billion in damages, but has yet to rule out the possibility that Samsung's payout may decrease in a future decision.
