In a candid email exchange, Samsung’s Mobile Head of Communications JK Shin highlighted the difference between Apple and Samsung smartphones as the “difference between heaven and earth.” This memo was one that Samsung had sought to keep out of the trial and unfortunately was admitted as Samsung legal counsel mentioned the “crisis of design” in a question to Samsung strategist Justin Denison, thereby allowing the memo to be admitted as evidence.

“Influential figures outside the company come across the iPhone, and they point out that ‘Samsung is dozing off.’ All this time we’ve been paying all our attention to Nokia, and concentrated our efforts on things like Folder, Bar, Slide,” Shin wrote. “Yet when our UX is compared to the unexpected competitor Apple’s iPhone, the difference is truly that of Heaven and Earth. It’s a crisis of design.”

Needless to say, this memo should help boost Apple’s case as emails coming from a top Samsung exec gives Apple at least some evidence that Samsung was looking to make some drastic changes to their smartphone design.

“Do you know how difficult the Omnia is to use? When you compare the 2007 version of the iPhone with our current Omnia, can you honestly say the Omnia is better? If you compare the UX with the iPhone, it’s a difference between Heaven and Earth.”

“When everybody (both consumers and the industry) talk about UX, they weigh it against the iPhone,” Shin wrote. “The iPhone has become the standard. That’s how things are already.”

At first glance it seems like this memo will provide Apple with a slam dunk, but the missing link is where Samsung actually says this will “copy” Apple’s design. In fact, it doesn’t say anything of the sort, though that doesn’t mean this email won’t provide Apple’s legal counsel with some extra ammunition to try and show the jury that Samsung knew that Apple’s design was better than their own and therefore worth emulating.  This memo, which can be read below at the All Things D link in its entirety is likely to play a role in the outcome of the case.

All Things D