Samsung loses out to Apple as ASA dismisses iPhone 4 ad complaint

Apple has emerged victorious in yet another battle with Samsung, after the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled that an advert claiming that the iPhone 4 is 'the thinnest smartphone' is not misleading.

A complaint from an unknown source had questioned Apple's claim, noting that, while the iPhone 4 has a uniform thickness of 9.3mm, the Samsung Galaxy S II is 8.71mm in places.

However, the Galaxy S II also has "peaks and valleys" in its design that make it 9.91mm thick in other areas, and Apple said that its measurement is relevant to consumers as it relates to the entire device, not just one area.

The ASA agreed with Apple, ruling that its claims are "reasonable" and that the advert can continue in its current form.

"We considered that consumers would be less interested in whether certain points of a product were thin, if bulges in the product made its overall thickness greater," the watchdog said.

"Because the iPhone 4's thickest point was thinner than the thickest point of the Samsung Galaxy S II, we concluded that the claim 'the world's thinnest smartphone' was not misleading."

V3 contacted Apple for a response to the ruling, but it said it had no comment to make while Samsung had not replied at the time of publication.

The decision will anger executives at Samsung, who will be growing weary of losing to Apple yet again.

Last week a German court upheld a ruling granting Apple an injunction on Samsung's Galaxy Tab that bans its sale in Germany and could spread to the rest of Europe in due course.