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Although Apple executives were publicly scathing of the 7-inch tablet format when the first models appeared, the firm considered creating one of its own, it emerged during the firm's court hearings with Samsung in California.

In early 2011, Eddy Cue, the powerful head of the iTunes business, recommended designing a 7-inch iPad to take on the original Samsung Galaxy Tab. At the time, Cue said, some reviewers and consumers were praising the highly portable size over the bulkier iPad. This emerged in testimony by two key Apple executives, marketing head Phil Schiller and software chief Scott Forstall.

Amid all the legal challenges and niceties, the heart of the case is Apple's and Samsung's attempts to prove that they did not copy one another. Apple has spent about $1.1bn on advertising for the iPhone and iPad since 2007, and Samsung said it spends about $1bn a year on marketing its brand. Samsung is keen to make the point that all firms are "inspired" by one another's products and Apple has been influenced by Samsung as well as the other way round - hence the focus on the possible 7-inch iPad. Indeed, Apple is widely expected to debut an 'iPad mini'later this year.

The cited email from Cue told Forstall, Schiller and then-COO Tim Cook: "I believe there will be a seven-inch market and we should do one. I expressed this to Steve [Jobs] several times since Thanksgiving and he seemed very receptive the last time."

Under cross-examination, Forstall denied Apple had borrowed ideas from Samsung while devising the iPhone. "I never directed anyone to go and copy anything from Samsung," he said. "We wanted to build something great. There was no reason to look at something they'd done."

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