This must be viewed more as diversification of key components. If I remember correctly, Korea is one of the countries where Apple has partnered and invested billions of dollars. And, when you deal with Korea, Samsung is the giant.
Of course, Apple should be cautious, as Samsung is becoming a very able competitor in both the smartphone and tablet business.
I wondered actually why Apple trusted its key differentiating technology, the A4 chip, to a company that is attempting to create its own brand in direct competition to Apple. This may be the Achiless heel of Apple, it has no choice but to depend on Asian techno-industry to manufacture its products. Many of these conglomerates tend to manufacture for other Western companies, but are at the same time also trying to develop their own.
Also, if rumours are to be believed, the difference between Apple's SoC and others built on the same ARM reference platform is their own IP on powersaving tech. I've never quite understood how they can have competitors build their chips without expecting the secrets to be stolen. It's not lke Samsung can turn their head away while they are manufacturing Apple's secret chip.
They have patents, copyrights, contracts and a head start. Any technology can be reverse engineered but Apple is ten steps ahead of everyone else.
It's a white G5 SoC made of sprayed metal, with a Blu-ray drive and Ultra Retina Display, delivered to you by Megan Fox riding a pink unicorn. It costs zero dollars and uses no power.
I thought it generated power! Darn, will have to wait for next years model.
So Samsung is trading $11 billion in sales to Apple in favor of the "smooth" selling Galaxy Tab?
Irrespective of what Samsung is doing with tablets, it's in Apple's best interest to secure multiple suppliers. While I'm sure Apple sees what Samsung is doing with tablets, if it had any real bearing on this as a primary factor it would really surprise me.
Yeah, it sends a message: Compete with us, and we'll stop doing business with you. Which is logical enough when you get right down to it.
Except Samsung and Apple have technically been competitors prior for years. Samsung is a electronics maker, they sell monitors, they sell home electronics, both of which competete with Apple products.
This is more about diversifying their suppliers than not dealing with a competitors
Why not outsource it to GlobalFoundries? They are only in the fab business and wont be competing with Apple with their own smooth tablet.
Samsung is a founding member of Global Foundaries.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mister Snitch
Yes. They screwed up. But if tablets are destined to take the place of PCs in, say, 60% of their current uses, while at the same time creating new uses constituting an additional, say, 15% of the current PC market... Well, that's such a colossal new marketplace that no one, including Samsung, could ignore it. And Samsung, because they were an Apple supplier, probably figured they had an edge.
But yeah - they screwed up. They should have focused on simply keeping Apple's business, which itself might well have grown for them.
Samsung didnt screw up.
What they may have "given up" in strictly monetary terms, they have gained brand power by being a CE juggernaut.
Remember, Samsung makes more than just mobile devices. They make a wide swath of products that such a "loss" in contract doesnt hurt the bottom line.
Also, just because a supplier produces a product that competes directly with Apple doesnt mean that Apple's decision to transfer its contract to another contract manufacturer was based solely on this fact alone. All we are doing now is pure speculating.
Business decisions involves a LOT more than just conflict of interest terms. Price, quality of craftmanship, supply availability, supplier flexibility and much, much more are involved. It's not based on just a simple criteria. Companies compare opportunity costs and pick the one with the least when all other factors are taken into consideration.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mstone
They have patents, copyrights, contracts and a head start. Any technology can be reverse engineered but Apple is ten steps ahead of everyone else.
Just a FYI, IBM and Samsung were the top two companies with the most patents for 2010.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Prof. Peabody
Also, if rumours are to be believed, the difference between Apple's SoC and others built on the same ARM reference platform is their own IP on powersaving tech. I've never quite understood how they can have competitors build their chips without expecting the secrets to be stolen. It's not lke Samsung can turn their head away while they are manufacturing Apple's secret chip.
Did you forget that Apple and Samsung has a patent sharing deal between them?
Ever wonder why Apple never sues Samsung for patent infringements?
It may be a hard pill to swallow to Apple fans, but Apple and Samsung are a lot closer to each other than you think.
They are not quite married to each other but are "friends with benefits". Occasionally, they are frienemies ( friend + enemies)
Also, on another note, TSMC have been having issues with build quality. Case example is with nVidia when they've had issues with their numerous Geforce chip defects.
Therefore, what Apple has done is move from a quality production manufacturer to a questionable quality manufacturer in the name of saving costs.
Ever wonder why Apple sticks with Samsung when acquiring a MARJORITY of the DRAM chips? It's because Samsung has a spotless record in quality craftsmanship when it comes to semiconductors.
I suspect Apple wants to see GF prove that it can be a reliable supplier. Apple remembers all to well the frustrations of using IBM-based fab technology with the PPC, and GF is basically AMD's old fabs, which were also based on IBM tech and also had a lot of problems over the past decade.
There are difference of course as Samsung has optimized for low power while GF tweaked for speed. I bring this up because I believe that A5 is likely being built on a 32nm node, the performance increase with little in the way of greater power demand seems to be an indicator here.
Oh IBM along with GF, Samsung and others are all members of the team that developed the 32nm node.
Comments
Of course, Apple should be cautious, as Samsung is becoming a very able competitor in both the smartphone and tablet business.
I wondered actually why Apple trusted its key differentiating technology, the A4 chip, to a company that is attempting to create its own brand in direct competition to Apple. This may be the Achiless heel of Apple, it has no choice but to depend on Asian techno-industry to manufacture its products. Many of these conglomerates tend to manufacture for other Western companies, but are at the same time also trying to develop their own.
Apple Ecosystems
Also, if rumours are to be believed, the difference between Apple's SoC and others built on the same ARM reference platform is their own IP on powersaving tech. I've never quite understood how they can have competitors build their chips without expecting the secrets to be stolen. It's not lke Samsung can turn their head away while they are manufacturing Apple's secret chip.
They have patents, copyrights, contracts and a head start. Any technology can be reverse engineered but Apple is ten steps ahead of everyone else.
Naw, they're using 3D printers.
That may not seem so funny ten years from now.
True, true. But Apple should continue sourcing at least some components from Samsung--you know, just to keep Tabs on them...
Of course. You wouldn't expect less from the REAL Smooth operators.
So Samsung is trading $11 billion in sales to Apple in favor of the "smooth" selling Galaxy Tab?
Not a bet I'd want to take ...
It's a white G5 SoC made of sprayed metal, with a Blu-ray drive and Ultra Retina Display, delivered to you by Megan Fox riding a pink unicorn. It costs zero dollars and uses no power.
I thought it generated power! Darn, will have to wait for next years model.
So Samsung is trading $11 billion in sales to Apple in favor of the "smooth" selling Galaxy Tab?
Irrespective of what Samsung is doing with tablets, it's in Apple's best interest to secure multiple suppliers. While I'm sure Apple sees what Samsung is doing with tablets, if it had any real bearing on this as a primary factor it would really surprise me.
Yeah, it sends a message: Compete with us, and we'll stop doing business with you. Which is logical enough when you get right down to it.
Except Samsung and Apple have technically been competitors prior for years. Samsung is a electronics maker, they sell monitors, they sell home electronics, both of which competete with Apple products.
This is more about diversifying their suppliers than not dealing with a competitors
Why not outsource it to GlobalFoundries? They are only in the fab business and wont be competing with Apple with their own smooth tablet.
Samsung is a founding member of Global Foundaries.
Yes. They screwed up. But if tablets are destined to take the place of PCs in, say, 60% of their current uses, while at the same time creating new uses constituting an additional, say, 15% of the current PC market... Well, that's such a colossal new marketplace that no one, including Samsung, could ignore it. And Samsung, because they were an Apple supplier, probably figured they had an edge.
But yeah - they screwed up. They should have focused on simply keeping Apple's business, which itself might well have grown for them.
Samsung didnt screw up.
What they may have "given up" in strictly monetary terms, they have gained brand power by being a CE juggernaut.
Remember, Samsung makes more than just mobile devices. They make a wide swath of products that such a "loss" in contract doesnt hurt the bottom line.
Also, just because a supplier produces a product that competes directly with Apple doesnt mean that Apple's decision to transfer its contract to another contract manufacturer was based solely on this fact alone. All we are doing now is pure speculating.
Business decisions involves a LOT more than just conflict of interest terms. Price, quality of craftmanship, supply availability, supplier flexibility and much, much more are involved. It's not based on just a simple criteria. Companies compare opportunity costs and pick the one with the least when all other factors are taken into consideration.
They have patents, copyrights, contracts and a head start. Any technology can be reverse engineered but Apple is ten steps ahead of everyone else.
Just a FYI, IBM and Samsung were the top two companies with the most patents for 2010.
Also, if rumours are to be believed, the difference between Apple's SoC and others built on the same ARM reference platform is their own IP on powersaving tech. I've never quite understood how they can have competitors build their chips without expecting the secrets to be stolen. It's not lke Samsung can turn their head away while they are manufacturing Apple's secret chip.
Did you forget that Apple and Samsung has a patent sharing deal between them?
Ever wonder why Apple never sues Samsung for patent infringements?
It may be a hard pill to swallow to Apple fans, but Apple and Samsung are a lot closer to each other than you think.
They are not quite married to each other but are "friends with benefits". Occasionally, they are frienemies ( friend + enemies)
Also, on another note, TSMC have been having issues with build quality. Case example is with nVidia when they've had issues with their numerous Geforce chip defects.
Therefore, what Apple has done is move from a quality production manufacturer to a questionable quality manufacturer in the name of saving costs.
Ever wonder why Apple sticks with Samsung when acquiring a MARJORITY of the DRAM chips? It's because Samsung has a spotless record in quality craftsmanship when it comes to semiconductors.
Where is the rumor that Apple is building a plant to build SoCs out a solid block of metal?
Well I read on AI that some guy said something about Apple fabricating SoCs out of solid blocks of metal.
I suspect Apple wants to see GF prove that it can be a reliable supplier. Apple remembers all to well the frustrations of using IBM-based fab technology with the PPC, and GF is basically AMD's old fabs, which were also based on IBM tech and also had a lot of problems over the past decade.
There are difference of course as Samsung has optimized for low power while GF tweaked for speed. I bring this up because I believe that A5 is likely being built on a 32nm node, the performance increase with little in the way of greater power demand seems to be an indicator here.
Oh IBM along with GF, Samsung and others are all members of the team that developed the 32nm node.