Samsung Creates Team of About 200 Employees Working Exclusively on Apple Products

[MacRumors]

Samsung has created a standalone team of about 200 employees working exclusively on Apple products, according to Bloomberg Business. The report claims the secretive team was formed on April 1 to build screens for iPads and MacBooks, develop products and help with sales.

The newly formed team implies that the relationship between Apple and Samsung, two fierce technology rivals, may be improving after the two companies spent millions of dollars fighting each other in the courtroom over the past several years. Samsung was also recently awarded the majority of orders for Apple's A9 chip for next-generation products, another likely sign of improving relations.

"Samsung is relying more on its display and semiconductor units after falling into a tie with Apple for leadership of the global smartphone market. Relations between the companies thawed after they dropped all lawsuits against each other outside the U.S., and Apple is now the biggest external customer for Samsung components, one of the people familiar said."

LG Display also has a standalone team dedicated to Apple, the supplier's biggest U.S. customer, according to the report.

Article Link: Samsung Creates Team of About 200 Employees Working Exclusively on Apple Products

 

[luckydcxx]

If you can't beat them, join them.

 

[nfl46]

Awe, this is why I like Tim. Great job!

 

[Pakaku]

In come the Samsung bashings.

 

[SpiderDude]

Talk about sleeping with the Enemy, eh?

 

[Jsameds]

Apple should just buy Samsung.

 

[mmendoza27]

Haha. Nice headline. If I hadn't read the article, I would have thought this was a satirical article explaining how it takes 200 Samsung employees to copy Apple's products.

 

[MacFather]

Deleted.

 

[iSolidus]

I interpreted this as: Samsung gives up trying to copy Apple products and instead starts making the actual products.

 

[Jsameds]

Haha. Nice headline. If I hadn't read the article, I would have thought this was a satirical article explaining how it takes 200 Samsung employees to copy Apple's products.

"The report claims the secretive team was formed on April 1 to build screens for iPads and MacBooks, develop products and help with sales."

 

[H2SO4]

I interpreted this as: Samsung gives up trying to copy Apple products and instead starts making the actual products.

Why wouldn’t you just interpret it as: Samsung dedicates production arm to key contract?

 

[macduke]

Say what you will about Samsung, but they really do make some pretty good panels (and CPUs and SSDs). I had an LG panel in my rMBP which had image retention issues. Apple repaired it for free and put a Samsung panel in and it looks amazing with no retention whatsoever.

 

[Kissaragi]

Cue Apple fanboys whining in 3,2,1....

 

[maflynn]

Talk about sleeping with the Enemy, eh?

Samsung has long been a component supplier for apple.

Apple should just buy Samsung.

Because Samsung is just too big, and no government would approve such a move, due to antitrust issues. Plus Apple is not interested in making memory chips, washing machines, Tvs, etc etc.

 

[JeffyTheQuik]

Technology companies do this when working with rivals in some arena or another... This allows them to be competitive when working with Apple, and competitors outside the team.

 

[RockSpider]

In come the Samsung bashings.

No, it doesn't work like that, now they love Samsung, when someone eats at the same table as Apple, they also become idolised.

 

[demodave]

Haha. Nice headline. If I hadn't read the article, I would have thought this was a satirical article explaining how it takes 200 Samsung employees to copy Apple's products.

Taken together with this....

----------

"The report claims the secretive team was formed on April 1 to build screens for iPads and MacBooks, develop products and help with sales."

It's hard not to come to the same conclusion....

 

[JeffyTheQuik]

I interpreted this as: Samsung gives up trying to copy Apple products and instead starts making the actual products.

It also could be part of the contract between Apple and Samsung, where this team isn't allowed to talk to the other teams about the Apple work being done, for the express purpose of keeping the copying down.

Corporations of that size aren't all packed into one room, and chit-chatting about their work statement in the cafeteria. Rules are set up so that people on certain teams have NDA within the company, and they aren't allowed to talk about what they do to other teams. The Phoenix (not a big company at the time) BIOS case, back in the 80's, where they copied IBM's BIOS for the PC clones is an example of these walls within the company. Due to those walls, they won the copyright suit IBM (not a company that you want to get a lawsuit from) against them.

 

[RedOrchestra]

Well that's 197 more people than Apple has working on iOS software.

 

[meaning-matters]

Team formed on Apple's birthday

 

[jm001]

Say what you will, but Samsung does make very good quality components and products. It's a win-win for both companies as Apple has the vision for its products and Samsung has the facilities and expertise for producing the components needed. It was just a few years ago that Samsung was the actual manufacturer of the idevices.

 

[vmachiel]

Awe, this is why I like Tim. Great job!

There is much to like about Tim. I think SJ was the best person to bring Apple back from the dead, and I think Tim Cook is the best person to lead the current Apple. It's really his Apple now.

 

[Tubamajuba]

Cue Apple fanboys whining in 3,2,1....

No, it doesn't work like that, now they love Samsung, when someone eats at the same table as Apple, they also become idolised.

Comments that are equally as juvenile as having a problem with Samsung components in Apple devices.

 

[JPIndustrie]

Not a surprise. Samsung is a very large company with many different parts. Please don't think GM suppliers were only supplying GM? Even back in the 60s?

Eventually you realize we're all in the same business, same line of work, we're the same kind of professionals... everyones gonna remain happy as long as they can provide for themselves + their families at the end of the day.

 

[H.Finch]

You know what my dream is? All the same displays, for all Apple products. The thinnest, greatest quality, Retina (I'd hope 4x) displays with anty glare and no air gap. The same display on every product, with no differences except for the screen size.