Apple and Samsung remain locked in a number of legal battles in several countries to this day. The two biggest players in the unbelievably lucrative smartphone market remained head to head, accusing one another or copyright and patent infringements, and seeking sales bans of each other’s product in different countries.
As the result of its most a high profile court case, Samsung was recently ordered to pay Apple over one billion dollars in damages, after the California based manufacturer accused Samsung of using copyrighted technology in its popular Galaxy smartphone and tablet range. It was widely assumed that this would be the end of the legal rivalry between the two companies, but has far from been the case. However, despite their differences both companies have formed a mutually beneficial partnership. Samsung is one of the biggest manufacturers of LCD screens for Apple products like its popular iPhone 5 and new iPad.
Although the opportunity to manufacture components for Apple products has proven lucrative for Samsung on account of the popularity of Apple products, the South Korean manufacturer is reportedly in the process of ending the contract between the two firms, according to the Korea Times.
Despite the benefits to Samsung, it insists that the decision to terminate the contract is purely for financial reasons, and is unrelated to the legal disputes between the two manufacturers. Apple is in the process of launching its latest product, the iPad Mini. It turns out to the majority of screens for this product are being manufactured by Sharp and LG, with Samsung significantly stepping down its manufacturing commitments to Apple.
Obviously, while this partnership will have been lucrative for Samsung, the manufacturer is still reaping the benefits of its Galaxy S3 flagship smartphone. In fact, it remains at the number one position in the sales charts in many countries, and the Apple iPhone 5 has still been unable to knock it off the top spot, although it was widely assumed that this would be the case when it was launched.
