A Samsung executive and Apple CEO Tim Cook used weekend memorial for the late Steve Jobs to talk about extending a supply deal set to end next year through 2014. The South Korean company is also considering whether to continue its legal fight with the tech giant, considering at $7.8 billion, Apple is Samsung’s largest customer.
Lee Jae-Young, currently Chief Operating Officer but heir to the family-run Samsung Electronics, used the memorial to “discuss even better parts” to Apple through 2013-2014, he told The Korea Herald. Apple becomes Samsung’s largest customer, purchasing an estimated $7.8 billion worth of parts. An earlier report this week indicated Samsung will build Apple’s quad-core A6 processor for 2012.
The talk may have been spurred by speculation Apple was considering replacing Samsung with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) for upcoming components. Lee also told his home newspaper that Samsung is reviewing its next step in the ongoing legal battle with Apple, possibly put any future action on hold. A hint of a possible cease-fire appeared earlier this week when Samsung mobile president Shin Jong-kyun said the company’s upcoming Galaxy Nexus smartphone aims to be 100 percent free of any technology that might run afoul of any Apple patents.
Such conciliatory talk is counter to previous comments by Samsung, including talk from the South Korean company’s marketing department promising a “more aggressive” stance against Apple.
