Samsung Quits as Apple LCD Panel Supplier
Citing a “stiffer supply-chain management structure,” Samsung Electronics said today that it will end its contract with Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) and stop supplying the U.S. company with LCD panels. Samsung shipped more than 15 million LCD panels to Apple…
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A Samsung official told the newspaper, “We are unable to supply our flat-screens to Apple with huge price discounts.” That is presumably the “stiffer supply-chain management structure” problem the company cited.
This appears to be the latest fallout from the ongoing legal battles between Apple and Samsung over intellectual property rights. For a long time, it looked like Samsung would continue as a supplier for iPhone, iPad, and other Apple products, but last week Samsung revealed that it is taking a diminished role in Apple’s smartphone chip designs as well.
Samsung believes that LCD panel sales to Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) and to the company’s own smartphone group will fill the gap left by Apple. But which gap – the 7.5 million units per quarter gap or the 3 million or less units per quarter gap?
Paul Ausick
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Paul Ausick has been writing for 247Wallst.com for more than a decade. He has written extensively on investing in the energy, defense, and technology sectors. In a previous life, he wrote technical documentation and managed a marketing communications group in Silicon Valley.
He has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Chicago and now lives in Montana, where he fishes for trout in the summer and stays inside during the winter.
