Apple vs. Samsung: Tales of Supply Chain
Apple is known for clever partnerships yielding the best supply chain management. Imagine the Apple A4 & A5 chip are built by Samsung, using Samsung IP and building blocks but Samsung cannot build their own chip but has to use Nvidia.
The article talks about how conglomerates have to keep barricades up between different divisions. I suspect that in this case – Apple is also muscling its way for better deals. And why shouldn’t they?
Steve Jobs likes to poke bears. The Apple (AAPL) chief executive officer has ribbed the likes of IBM (IBM), Google (GOOG), Adobe (ADBE), and Microsoft (MSFT). In many cases, he rips into these companies even while Apple depends on them as partners. Adobe and Microsoft, in particular, have long provided valuable software for Apple’s operating system. No matter. They’re still subject to abuse from the man in the black turtleneck.
His latest whipping boy: Samsung, a rival to Apple in the consumer electronics business. During the iPad 2 unveiling on Mar. 2, Jobs roasted Samsung, making fun of one of its executives who tried to defend sales of the Galaxy Tab, the company’s answer to Apple’s first tablet computer. He also gave Samsung top billing in a chart proclaiming 2011 the “Year of the Copycats.”
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