Samsung Display Will Likely Terminate Its Contract to Build Apple Displays Next Year

[dgstorm]

Update: Samsung makes a statement refuting these claims. Here's a quote from the CNET article:

However, a Samsung spokesman told CNET that the Korea Times post was 100 percent false.

"Samsung Display has never tried to cut the supply for LCD panels to Apple," the spokesman said.
He added that Samsung is asking the Korea Times to revise its story.

Hmmm... it's entirely possible that this second "official" statement from Samsung is simply damage control. Perhaps Sammy still plans to cancel their contracts with Apple eventually, but this info shouldn't have slipped out yet. What do you guys think?

It looks like the magic in the marriage between Samsung and Apple has faded and the final divorce is coming. In a a somewhat ironic twist, industry intel suggests that the Display arm of Samsung intends to call it quits with Apple before Apple does. Supposedly, sometime in 2013, Samsung Display intends to terminate their contract to build displays for Apple devices.

What is even more ironic is that the reason for this move has little to do with the ongoing legal feud between the two companies. Supposedly, the primary reason Samsung wants out of the deal is because they are tired of the massive price discounts that Apple always demands. Apparently, the price per pixel for suppliers fell more than twenty times from the iPad 2 to the new iPad. Here's a quote from the anonymous Samsung Display exec,

We are unable to supply our flat-screens to Apple with huge price discounts. Samsung has already cut our portion of shipments to Apple and next year we will stop shipping displays.

In the mean-time, this year Samsung was still the largest screen supplier for Apple. During the first six month of this year Samsung shipped 15 million panels to Cupertino. During the second half of this year Apple saw a huge decrease from Samsung. The source of this info indicated that "Samsung shipped less than 3 million to Apple during the third quarter of this year and we expect the quarterly shipment in the fourth quarter to fall to some 1.5 million." This means this was a move they were already planning to begin with.

Finally, although Samsung does get a large revenue stream from Apple, reports indicate they have already begun branching out to replace/offset that stream from other device manufacturers, like Amazon.

Source: PhoneArena

[Miller6386]

WOW!! I never knew Samsung supplied screens for Apple.... That is just crazy and goes to show you how all of these big companies are all intertwined somehow....

[dgstorm]

OP Updated.

[Miller6386]

Thats a bad situation all the way around... I could see potential issues arising on both sides.... If Samsung isn't making as much money as they feel they should on the screens why keep supplying the competition with them to help boost their (Apples) profit margin.... On the other side money is money even if it is from the competition if Samsung doesn't make the screen someone else will..... Then again (LOL) if some other company takes over the contract for the screens from Samsung (for Apple) maybe it will be a cheaper less quality product and in the end that will make the iPad even less quality then they are now... Also if Apple does start to lose the lawsuits they have filed and for some reason there is a defect in the screens they are receiving from Samsung I wouldn't put it passed Apple to drum up a lawsuit saying that Samsung intentionally sent them an inferior product trying give them (Apple) a bad reputation.. Now if this were to happen common sense would still dictate to Apple needing to have better QC operations especially when they are buying screens from a company they have publicly called out as an enemy.... Seems to kind of go back to the don't bite the hand that feeds you.....

[UltraDroid]

Just quadruple the charge to Apple for the screens - and any other product Samsung sells to them. If it cost $5.00 before, now the charge is $20.00 - and explain that it's in retaliation for the nonsensical law suits.