As Apple and Samsung continue to battle over patents and product design, Samsung seems to be positioned to take the biggest hit. The South Korea-based electronics giant has already seen sales of its tablet blocked in multiple regions and Apple is digging deeper. Dow Jones reported back in February that Apple was expected to make roughly $7.8 billion in component purchases from Samsung in 2011, but the future of the relationship is now in jeopardy. Reports from this past June that Apple moved away from Samsung for its mobile processors were seemingly confirmed last month, and DigiTimes on Thursday reported that Apple is looking beyond Samsung for its mobile memory chips as well. Read on for more.
DigiTimes reports that Apple has secured two new suppliers for its DRAM and NAND flash chips. Japan-based Toshiba and Elpida Memory have received increased orders for memory chips destined for Apple’s mobile devices like the iPhone and iPad, the site reported, citing multiple unnamed industry sources. Toshiba will supply Apple with NAND flash chips while Elpida will supply mobile RAM. Is is unclear if Samsung, the world’s leading supplier of both NAND flash memory and DRAM chips, will retain any of Apple’s mobile memory business or if the iPhone maker will move all orders to Toshiba and Elpida.
