Based on lawsuits filed this year, we know Apple and Samsung have developed something which is not short of an animosity. Regardless of that, Apple and Samsung will continue to do business together. This really does give a new meaning to sleeping with the enemy.
Despite the fact that the two companies are suing each other at every available opportunity, Samsung will remain a crucial component supplier for Apple as its going to manufacture the 28 nanometre A6 processor that is to be used in next generation iPhone and iPad.
Previously it was rumored that due to this hostility between Apple and Samsung, folks at Cupertino had chosen SPIL as their manufacturer for quad-core A6 processors. It was also said that TSMC would be manufacturing A5 processors that come in iPad 2 and iPhone 4S alongside Samsung as Apple does not intend to keep Samsung their exclusive chip supplier. However as reported today by Korean Times, Apple has decided that regardless of their legal battles, Samsung shall remain to be a "critical business partner" of Apple as its going to manufacture quad-core A6 processors for them whereas TSMC will only be producing custom chips with designs from Apple in small volume.
Sources indicate that TSMC isn't quite ready to develop processors for Apple in the extraordinary volume required. TSMC has yet to stabilize their manufacturing process and surely Apple can't take a risk because we know the company is hell bent on performance and perfection. Therefore Apple has decided to keep Samsung as its primary chip supplier until TSMC is able to ramp up its production quantity.
It is expected that the next generation iPhone and iPad, lets call them iPhone 5 and iPad 3 for namesake, will come with quad-core A6 processor. While Apple only released a minor update of the iPhone this month, it is expected that the iPhone 5 is going to be a complete overhaul of Apple's flagship smartphone. Reportedly, iPhone 5 is the last project Steve Jobs worked on before passing away. On the other hand, if Apple keeps up with its traditional release cycles, iPad 3 would be due for release in March 2012. We know that rumors about both these devices will start coming in merely weeks from now, but if there's one thing we do know about both of these devices, its the fact that Samsung will be manufacturing the quad-core A6 processors powering them.