Chairman Lee
Samsung headquarters
FORTUNE — The
Korea Times
, which earlier reported that Samsung executives were “reeling in shock” after its lopsided loss to Apple (AAPL) last week, followed up Wednesday with a description of the moment the news was formally delivered to the company’s highest official.
Apparently Lee Kun-hee, chairman of Samsung Electronics, wasn’t briefed until Tuesday, four days after the verdict was returned. The job fell to vice chairman Choi Gee-sung, whom Lee had assigned to ride herd over the multibillion dollar patent dispute.
According to the
Korea Times
, quoting an unnamed Samsung executive, this was Lee’s reaction:
“The chairman calmed down and slightly closed his eyes after he was briefed. But he didn’t say anything further.”
What the chairman said before he calmed down is left to our imagination.
Following the verdict, Samsung unveiled a flurry of new products at the IFA trade fair in Berlin, including a tablet and smartphone running Microsoft’s (MSFT) Windows 8. The Korea Times took that as a signal that relations between Google (GOOG) and Samsung — the largest manufacturer of Android devices — had cooled.
The article also confirmed that Samsung has threatened to immediately sue Apple for patent infringement if Cupertino releases any products using advanced long-term evolution (LTE) mobile technology — which the next iPhone is expected to do.
Of the 3,000 or so standards-essential LTE patents, according to an Article One Partners study published earlier this year, Nokia has 18.9%, Qualcomm has 12.2% and Samsung has 12.2%. The Nortel LTE patents purchased for $4.5 billion last year by a consortium led by Apple account for 2.29%.
