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by nostrademons 4085 days ago
Isn't Samsung the main supplier for many of the parts used in the iPhone? And that's the reason why a.) they're in the phone business and b.) they can dominate the Android market? They took the other side of those transactions so they could learn exactly what it took to build a mobile phone, and then once they had phone-building expertise, they just need to ramp up their own production and divert some to internal use to fuel their own smartphones.
3 comments
exelius 4085 days ago
Yeah, but the interesting part is that for a while, Samsung was the only manufacturer capable of producing LCD screens that met Apple's specs. Apple outbid Samsung's mobile division on those parts, so that resulted in a situation where the iPhone had better screens than the Galaxy, even though the iPhone's screen was manufactured by Samsung. AFAIK Samsung still manufactures Apple's mobile CPUs (likely under heavy NDA; like when accounting firms audit each other).

But you're right, being such a critical component of Apple's supply chain has likely given Samsung inside knowledge of Apple's platforms. As a result, Apple has been diversifying their supply chain to avoid Samsung.

I don't know that plays into their dominance of the Android market though. Samsung was already the top consumer electronics brand in the world prior to the release of the iPhone, so it's not surprising that would carry over into mobile phones. It was certainly a factor, though probably not a large one.

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soperj 4085 days ago
And yet they had to go back to Samsung for screens because no one else could really provide the quality & quantity that Samsung could.
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exelius 4085 days ago
Yeah; it's been a problem for them. Apple has been making strategic investments in these areas trying to create a healthier marketplace so they don't have to go to their biggest competitor to buy critical components. Fortunately, Samsung loves money more than it hates Apple.
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ch4ck 4085 days ago
LCD? Samsung used OLED for its top Galaxy devices since the day one. That was and is the main differentiator.
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moogly 4085 days ago
He probably means PLS. Apple used (uses?) Samsung displays for the iPad. Their phones have always used Sharp or LG displays, I believe.
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ptx 4085 days ago
Samsung made phones long before the iPhone existed.
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soperj 4085 days ago
Except, you know, they've been building phones for far longer than Apple.
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varjag 4085 days ago
That's what Apple pixie dust does to people. I had people seriously arguing that Apple invented portable mp3 player with iPad too.
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