After a Californian Court ruled last week that Samsung had indeed infringed on Apples design patents, and ordered Samsung to pay £1.05bn in damages, Apple is attempting to get eight Samsung smartphones banned in the US.

Samsungs Galaxy Prevail, Droid Charge, and various models of the Galaxy S and S2 are the devices on the chopping block, but the final decision has been delayed until December. Samsung has the chance to appeal, as it is doing next month over the sales ban of the Galaxy Tab 10.1. 

But whether or not the ban goes forward the question remains: what does this all mean for the smartphone market?

Google and Android

Quickly after the result of the trial was announced, Google released a statement distancing the core Android OS – rather than Samsungs own modified version – from the patents in question.

“Most of these claims don’t relate to the core Android operating system, and several are being re-examined by the US Patent Office,” the statement reads. “The mobile industry is moving fast and all players – including newcomers – are building upon ideas that have been around for decades. We work with our partners to give consumers innovative and affordable products, and we don’t want anything to limit that.”

This reaction is understandable, given that manufacturers, most of whom dont have the kind of legal resources that Samsung does, could be put off building Android devices in the future – especially those planning anything which resembles an Apple device.

Windows Phone

If theres an obvious opportunity for anyone coming out of the trial, its Microsofts Windows Phone, which has been on the rise of late. And, as the launch of Windows 8 approaches, this could be just the break it needs.

After the verdict, Microsofts Windows Phone Division marketing director Bill Cox tweeted: “Windows Phone is looking gooooood right now” – and its not hard to speculate that those manufacturers who might be tempted to move away from Android, to avoid their own run-ins with the Apple legal team, could be drawn to Windows 8. Especially as Microsoft has cross-licenses with Apple, protecting it from any similar lawsuits.

Samsung

And what about Samsung itself? 

The South Korean manufacturers answer seems to be, simply, more handsets. Its Galaxy S3, which is the best-selling Android smartphone in the UK, isnt covered by the sales ban, and it has just announced a handful of new devices, seemingly in response to the verdict.

Most interesting is that two of the devices – which were actually uncovered during the trial process – are Windows 8 devices. Including what promises to be the first Windows 8 smartphone to market in the Ativ S, beating Microsofts traditional OEM partner Nokia to the punch.

Samsung is hardly fleeing Android, as it also announced two Android devices – and it has made Windows Phone 7 devices in the past – but its certainly notable for its timing.

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