Apple’s Frenemy Supplying Screen, Processor For New iPad

Apple and Samsung continue fighting each other over patent infringements, but that doesn’t mean they can’t work together. Case in point is the new iPad. According to Bloomburg, quoting iSuppli, Samsung is the only touch screen supplier for Apple’s latest tablet. According to the report, Samsung beat out LG and Sharp to become the only screen provider for the new iPad because neither of those companies met Apple’s quality requirements. They state:

Samsung, the world’s top flat-panel maker, currently is the sole vendor of the display for the 9.7-inch device, said Vinita Jakhanwal, a senior manager at iSuppli, a unit of Englewood, Colorado-based IHS Inc.

However, the pact between these two “frenemies” extends further. The same report confirms Samsung also makes Apple’s A5X processor, which is also on the new iPad.

The display specifications on the new iPad are very demanding in terms of the very high resolution,” Jakhanwal said in an e-mail. “Achieving this high resolution without compromising on the power consumption and brightness and maintaining Apple’s quality standards are supposedly proving to be a challenge for LG Display and Sharp.”

In 2011, the two companies began fighting over alleged similarities between each company’s line of smartphones and tablets. These allegations remain unresolved in courts across the world. As a reminder, the new iPad arrives on Friday in the United States, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Switzerland, U.K. and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The third generation tablet will be available by the end of March in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Macau, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden. We bet you didn't know Samsung supplied much of what makes the new iPad special, huh?!

Related articles