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Apple and Samsung Moving into 'Hate-Hate' Relationship

Monday October 15, 2012 6:59 am PDT by Eric Slivka
Apple and Samsung have long had a complicated relationship, with the two companies locked in numerous court battles linked to their competition in the smartphone and tablet marketplaces even as Samsung serves as Apple's largest component supplier. As tensions have continued to ride high between the two companies, there have been signs that Apple has been trying to cut back on its reliance on Samsung for component production.


The Korea Times now takes a look at how the relationship between the two companies has evolved from a "love-hate" relationship to a "hate-hate" one. The report highlights Apple's move to cut Samsung out of the chip development process for the new A6 system-on-a-chip found in the iPhone 5, with Samsung simply serving as a foundry to manufacture the chip and no longer contributing its expertise to designing Apple's chips.
According to industry sources, Apple has not collaborated with Samsung in the process to develop its A6 microprocessor used in its latest iPhone 5. Samsung has handled the manufacturing of the processors used in previous iPhones and believed to have contributed in their design to some degree.

Apple is still relying on the Korean firm to manufacture its chips but has made it clear it will no longer use its rival's technology, according to a senior Samsung official.

"Samsung's agreement with Apple is limited to manufacturing the A6 processors. Apple did all the design and we are just producing the chips on a foundry basis," he said on the sidelines of a technology fair at KINTEX in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province.
With Apple having recently hired Samsung chip designer Jim Mergard and reportedly seeking to shift A-series chip production to TSMC, it seems that Apple is seeking to further distance itself from Samsung. It remains to be seen, however, just how cleanly Apple can sever its component relationships with Samsung, as the Korean company's technical and manufacturing expertise in some cases make it difficult to shift to other suppliers.

Tag: koreatimes.co.kr
[ 206 comments ]


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chuckd83
89 months ago
Samsung should just cut em off.
Rating: 26 Votes
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Lone Deranger
89 months ago
Good riddance!
Rating: 25 Votes
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Tingler
89 months ago

Microsoft must be feeling left out these days.


Not really. Microsoft and Apple signed an agreement not to copy each other in the mobile phone market so seeing Apple part ways with another competitor, Samsung, only encourages more innovation and competition on Microsoft's part.

The only one who is being left out here is Samsung.
Rating: 25 Votes
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racer1441
89 months ago
Crush them Apple.
Rating: 22 Votes
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rei101
89 months ago
They will end up making love to each other, you will see.
Rating: 21 Votes
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mabhatter
89 months ago

Samsung should just cut em off.


You're kidding? Apple buys multiple BILLION$$ in parts from Samsung. Apple accounts for like 20% of Samsung semiconductor/parts sales. Only Sony buys more parts. More importantly, Apple has long term contracts they have PREPAID for setup and upgrades needed.

If Samsung tried to cut Apple off they would have contract suits for BILLIONS in breech liability... And no OTHER company would take them seriously to invest money in them.

Everybody misses that Apple was VERY GOOD to Samsung. Apple spent most of the recession writing Samsung checks for $100's of millions of dollars UP FRONT to retrofit lines for Apple's needs stupid Samsung CEO allowed his phone division to target APPLE SPECIFICALLY... not just features, but press, marketing, etc... Samsung made it "personal" first... Now they're watching Apple pull apart their production business as the contracts expire. Oops!

Like iPhone or not, early on, 3/4 of the Bill of Materials cost for iPods and iPhones was going right back to SAMSUNG'S pocket... You just don't say bad things about the product when you got that kind of money in the deal.
Rating: 21 Votes
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Zunjine
89 months ago

Apple knows how to burn bridges. They really need to learn how to play nice in the sandbox.


Apple has a healthy relationship with MS and, if anything, it's Google who did the bridge burning when they developed Android while leaving their CEO on Apple's board.

Apple seems to have excellent relationships with a number of players - Twitter and Facebook, for instance.
Rating: 18 Votes
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bbplayer5
89 months ago
the makeup sex is going to result in a 6 inch screen iPhone 6.
Rating: 18 Votes
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SirDaav
89 months ago
From Korea with Hate

is it really because of hate? or just because Apple has developed its own in house expertise? It's a natural evolution for Apple surely...

Now that Samsung is proven to have a culture of ripping Apple off however, why would they want to share any designs with them? It would be unatural to think otherwise.
Rating: 17 Votes
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jasonefmonk
89 months ago
Ugliest title possible for this. They have a business relationship, jesus.

Edit: They censor words here?
Rating: 16 Votes

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