Apple's 12-Inch iPad Concept Inspires New Samsung Tablets

Apple AAPL has repeatedly claimed that Samsung SSNLF has copied its products and infringes on its patents. True or false, Samsung has come up with a new strategy to prevent future lawsuits. Instead of waiting for market trends to set the stage for product development, Samsung has decided to create several trends of its own. For example, Samsung developed, marketed and heavily pushed the large smartphone concept. That strategy has proved to be worth billions of dollars. Now every manufacturer wants to release a big phone. Related: Apple Teams With Samsung To Build iPad Mini Retina Display Most recently Samsung has been trying to popularize the dual-screen format. And that's not all the South Korean tech giant is doing. Samsung is also hard at work on developing a version of every kind of product Apple is expected to release. Earlier this year, Apple was rumored to be developing its first smart watch. Now Samsung is rumored to be doing the same. Similarly, there have been reports claiming that Apple is working on a concept for a 12-inch iPad. Samsung appears to be following suit. According to DigiTimes, Samsung also plans to produce a 12-inch tablet. While it is possible that Samsung was developing these products before the Apple-related rumors hit the Web, the timing might be too coincidental for some investors to believe. Even so, the DigiTimes report explains that Apple may be less likely than Samsung to release a 12-inch tablet. This is because of the in-house competition versus external competition. Samsung does not mind competing with itself, even if it means cannibalizing the sales of a particular device. But Apple has no intention of hurting the 11-inch and 13-inch MacBook Airs by releasing a 12-inch iPad. Thus, Apple may experiment with the idea of a large tablet, but that does not mean the company will actually release one. Samsung, on the other hand, is likely to have a 12-inch tablet in stores within the next 12 to 24 months. Disclosure: At the time of this writing, Louis Bedigian had no position in the equities mentioned in this report. Louis Bedigian is the Senior Tech Analyst and Features Writer of Benzinga. You can reach him at 248-636-1322 or louis(at)benzingapro(dot)com. Follow him @LouisBedigianBZ