SEOUL, Nov. 14 (Yonhap) -- Top smartphone maker Samsung Electronics Co. does not intend to hold talks with Apple Inc. to reach an agreement on their ongoing patent tussle, its mobile business chief said Wednesday, raising views the company will rely on legal means rather than settling the issue out of court.

   Samsung and Apple, who are both rivals and partners in the mobile business, have been involved in a dogged war over design and technology patent suits in four continents since April 2011.

   "It may be true that HTC may have agreed to pay 300 billion won (US$276 million) to Apple, but we don't intend to (negotiate) at all," Shin Jong-kyun, who heads the South Korean tech giant's mobile and IT division, told reporters.

   Shin's remarks come after Apple settled global lawsuits over mobile patents with the Taiwanese handset maker, a move that had spurred views the iPhone maker may take a softer stance in its ongoing patent suits with global handset makers.

   While the terms of the settlement were undisclosed, market watchers speculate HTC will pay between $6 to $8 per phone, which would amount to $180 million to $280 million a year.

   Meanwhile, Shin forecast Samsung's fourth-quarter smartphone sales will stay as robust as they did in the third quarter.

   In the July-September period, Samsung registered a record 8.1 trillion won operating profit on the back of solid sales of its flagship Galaxy S3 smartphone. Operating profit from the company's IT & Mobile Communications division accounted for roughly 70 percent of the total.

   Fueled by stellar shipments, the company grabbed a 35.2 percent market share in the global smartphone market in the third quarter, widening its lead over Apple's 16.6 percent stake, according to the data by Strategy Analytics.

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