Due to the lawsuit which recently ended between Apple and Samsung, Apple has decided to place some memory chip orders for its upcoming iPhone with an Asian company and has decided to steer away from Samsung for this component, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The order for its memory chips used to store data will be exporting from a South Korean firm named SK Hynix Inc.
However, Samsung will continue to be the supplier for the main processor that powers the iPhone.
The report shows the friction between the two smartphone manufacturers as their patent disputes continue to grow.
"Orders to SK Hynix for both mobile DRAM and NAND flash memory chips from Apple have risen in recent months," a source told the Wall Street Journal.
Apart from memory chips and processors, Samsung also supplies the displays used in the Apple iPad. But reports state that the new iPhone, which is likely to be released this month, will be equipped with displays from Japan's Sharp Corp., Korea's LG Display Co., and Japan Display Inc., as they come with the panel manufacturing technology that is different from that made by Samsung.
The change in supplier partnership gathers credence as a U.S. jury awarded Apple $1.05 billion in damages in a high-pitched battle against Samsung. The jury also ruled that Samsung violated six of Apple's patents pertaining to design and software. Though Samsung is planning to appeal the verdict, it still has a long way to go in closing issues with its long-term partner and competitor as patent infringement cases are also filed in other countries, including Australia, the Netherlands, Germany and France.
It is also reported that the new iPhone will use an in-cell liquid crystal display panel, a technology that renders smartphone screens thinner as it comes with embedded touch sensors in the LCD, thereby eliminating the touch-screen layer.
Sources note that in-cell panels are more difficult to produce than conventional LCD panels, the Wall Street Journal has noted.
In the smartphone segment, both Apple and Samsung are contending for the top slot. Statistics from Strategy Analytics indicate that Samsung is leading the market with a 34.6 percent share compared to Apple's 17.8 percent market share.
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