“Things may be about to get tough for some Apple partners as the company invests in top secret display technology development labs and increases its control over the primary technologies used in its products,” Jonny Evans writes for Computerworld.
“Not that this is any real surprise. One thing Apple learned when it found itself embroiled in its endless war with Samsung is the cost and the consequence of tying the knot with a faithless partner,” Evans writes. “Apple has worked hard to diversify its production and supply partners ever since.”
MacDailyNews Take: Meanwhile, Samsung continues stamping out Apple A-series processors and fabricating iPhone and iPad displays, among other things, as you read this. One man’s hard work is another man’s sloth.
“Bloomberg today reports Apple is moving to develop the next-generation of display technologies. It has opened an Apple building in Longtan, northern Taiwan, in which it has at least 50 engineers and other workers creating new screens for devices including iPhones and iPads,” Evans writes. “In another move Apple has acquired a former semiconductor manufacturing building for $18.2 million, claiming these premises will be used for office space and R&D.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: There are so many things wrong with the fact that Apple continues to deal with Samsung to make iPhone and iPad parts from rewarding a company that repeatedly, unapologetically, and congenitally steals from you to tacitly boosting the standing of all Samsung products — “Hey,” the fragmandroid illiterates say, “Samsung supplies Apple with parts, so they can’t be that bad, right?” — that it boggles the mind that this realtionship continues in 2015 (and likely beyond). Sometimes, Tim, it’s better to be a bit less pragmatic and, you know, actually lead by example.
If Samsung’s so bad that Apple has to sue them possibly all the way to the U.S. Supreme court, then Apple should have taken some of their $200+ billion war chest and invested in or even created other companies, who do not steal Apple products, so that they could have cut Samsung completely out of the Apple equation by now. Failure to have not accomplished the removal of the thieving Samsung from Apple’s supply chain by now is exactly that, a failure by Apple CEO Tim Cook.
Steve Jobs would have put his New Balance 991 on Samsung’s neck and stepped down with finality.
SEE ALSO:
Apple buys former chip fab in San Jose, California – December 15, 2015
Apple operating secret laboratory in Taiwan to develop new, thinner displays for iPhone, iPad and Macintosh – December 14, 2015
If they receive their $522 million payment from their “partner” for infringing their IP then maybe it’s not so bad.
$5.22 billion would be a bit closer to what they should have to pay.
Hey MDN give Tim and Co. a little break. When ramping up production in a mind boggling fashion, there is no time for petty squabbles to get in the way of domination of those that though they could betray you. You keep your friends close and your enemies closer.
Watch some game of thrones.
Completely Agree. The last thing Apple needed was to screw up the smartphone market and be overpriced / under-powered like the Motorola processors in the original Mac. Under powered chips and sub-optimal screens would have done Apple in.
I like Apple’s position much more in the smart phone market. Even using Samscum, they didn’t leave much profit on the table for the backstabbing thieves.
Every component that Samsung produces that is shared with Apple lowers the cost and thus increases the profitability of every Samsung phone using those components.
At this point, Apple should have long divorced itself from Scamsung.
I concur, as well. MDN appears to believe that finding/developing a supplier for hundreds of millions of units each of a variety of cutting edge microelectronic components is just a matter of flipping a switch and wishing it to be true. In fact, Apple has worked with a number of suppliers and has been working very hard to shift supplier contracts away from Samsung (e.g., A9 SoC).
Sometimes the forest (iPhone) is more import than the trees (individual electronic components). Apple makes enormous profits from the iPhone – profits that dwarf the profits made in the component and assembly areas. Apple has been getting the last laugh since 2007.
Apple designs displays, batteries, SoCs, photo camera sensors (yes, Sony is only contractor manufacturer), TouchID sensors, metal alloys and even protective glass.