Samsung has a unit dedicated to making Apple displays

[Commodus]

This strikes me as interesting... Samsung recently established a unit that develops displays just for Apple products:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...eate-apple-team-in-display-unit-to-boost-ties

It's not completely surprising, since Samsung's component businesses are much more dependent on Apple these days, but it shows two things: first, how relations have warmed up since the legal truce between the two... and second, how much control Apple has over its design process. It doesn't make the parts, but it has so much input that it either designs hardware itself (such as the A-series chips) or can tell companies to make custom components.

This isn't the same level of autonomy that Samsung has, of course, but it's miles better than what HTC, Sony and most other Android OEMs have to deal with. It's hard to see a company standing out when it's forced to use off-the-shelf parts and can't do much more than design a custom Android interface.

 

[Kaido]

Relations actually have nothing to do with it...it's just business. (Un)surprisingly, it all boils down to money. You'd be amazed at how many companies do this, even when it doesn't make much sense legally or competitively. For example, Intel is using an ARM GPU in their upcoming Cherrytrail Atom X3 SoC, which makes no sense at first glance since they already have their own integrated graphics (Intel HD & Iris) & ARM is their biggest competitor. But it fits the need, so it's what gets used. At the end of the day, everyone wants to make more money, even if that means pairing up with your enemy. Crazy stuff!

 

[poofyhairguy]

Apple put an OLED in the watch. Maybe they are coming around to the tech.

 

[paperwastage]

At the end of the day, everyone wants to make more money, even if that means pairing up with your enemy. Crazy stuff!

It's good to have an alternative route, in case your partner screws (you) up, or to use your alternative as a bargaining chip

examples:

• Samsung having exynos as fallback when qualcomm 810 sucks, but HTC/LG doesn't have this choice
• 3 aluminium can vendors, MCC owned by Anheuser-Busch In-Bev to contrl pricing
• BFG screwed by nVidia (exclusive partner), couldn't go to ATI for help
• GT Advanced Technologies, sapphire screen production for apple products

 

[openwheel]

Apple has been using Samsung parts for ages, from SoC, nand, displays and more.

 

[Commodus]

Apple put an OLED in the watch. Maybe they are coming around to the tech.

I think Apple was never totally averse to OLED, it just wants to use the technology where it makes sense. On the Apple Watch, it's used both to create that "seamless" effect and save battery life -- notice how there's a lot of black in the interface? That's not as necessary in computers, phones and tablets, where colour accuracy and brightness (LCD's strong points) are more important.

 

[darkswordsman17]

I think Apple was never totally averse to OLED, it just wants to use the technology where it makes sense. On the Apple Watch, it's used both to create that "seamless" effect and save battery life -- notice how there's a lot of black in the interface? That's not as necessary in computers, phones and tablets, where colour accuracy and brightness (LCD's strong points) are more important.

I think it comes down to $$$, although I don't know why they are so averse to OLED since it is premium technology and something that they could market very easily (I can't figure out why Samsung doesn't beat their chest about it more, if I was them I'd be trumpeting their OLED big time). I think it was a mixture of the cost of the panels, cost to ramp up production, and their limited life cutting too much into Apple's margins that prevented it though. I think it will be a while still before we get there.

 

[GTRagnarok]

Despite this news, I don't think we'll see AMOLED iPhones any time soon. It's a shame because that's the main thing (now that there are bigger iPhones) that would make me consider one.

 

[Applesexual]

I think you're overestimating how much Samsung depends on Apple.

The only thing Apple provides Samsung is the convenience of having to supply only 1 customer. If Apple leaves, other companies can pick up the slack. With Qualcomm now jumping on Samsung's 14nm fabs, Samsung doesn't really need Apple as much as Apple needs Samsung.