Apple might sue and badmouth Samsung every chance they get (not that Samsung doesn’t badmouth Apple), but when it comes to getting hardware components for their products, the Cupertino company readily shakes hands with the Korean manufacturer. Apple already gets its iPhone 5s processor made by Samsung, and is now reportedly looking towards Samsung to secure supply for 7.9-inch Retina display panels for the second-generation iPad mini.
According to a report from Japan’s Nikkei, current suppliers of the display – Sharp and LG Display – are having trouble reaching production volumes, with Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo worried about the shortage that the low supply of display panels will cause. As a result, Apple could be turning towards its archrival to make up for the supply shortage, as Samsung is well-equipped to handle the required production volume; however, since the iPad mini with Retina (yeah, it’s not called the iPad mini 2) has already been announced and is on its way to market, it probably won’t be till 2014 that supply meets the huge demand the new iPad mini is likely to create.
