Negative feelings between two of the biggest names in the tech industry continue to grow according to a report from the Korea Times. Over the last few years Apple has been making a concentrated effort to reduce it's dependence on Samsung wherever possible. Whereas Apple has consistently been Samsung's largest customer, to the tune of 8bn annually, the future is shaping to be quite different.
In the last 12 months we've seen displays shifted as quickly as possible to assembly by LG and Sharp. Memory modules have been next to go, now being provided by a handful of asian suppliers in addition to Samsung. The Korean Times is reporting that as of the Apple A6 Samsung has now lost lucrative developmental roles in Apple's chip design.
This marks a major shift in strategy by the world's most valuable company. Since the introduction of Apple's A4 processor Samsung has been involved in all stages of processor design. Now it appears Apple's terms with Samsung leave it simply as a fab for Apple's final stage chip production.
While tensions have escalated recently between the two companies, notably with the recent 1bn loss Samsung suffered in court - this move towards self reliance has been progressing for years. In 2008 Apple began building up their chip development capabilities with the purchase of PA Semi. This capacity was strengthened in 2011 when Apple acquired Israeli chip maker Intrinsity.
Last week, as reported here and elsewhere, Apple hired Jim Mergard away from Samsung's Texas based silicon team. Mix this with reports from Barclays this week regarding Apple in final stage talks between TSMC and Intel for 20nm fabrication - it's looking like the time is soon when Apple silicon no longer has any connection to their Korean friend turned rival.
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