iPhone 5: Apple reduces memory chip order from Samsung

iPhone 5: Apple reduces memory chip order from Samsung

Seoul: Apple Inc has reduced its orders for memory chips for its new iPhone from key supplier and competitor Samsung Electronics Co, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said on Friday.

South Korea’s Samsung is a core Apple supplier, producing micro processors, flat screens and memory chips — both dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips and NAND memory chips — for popular Apple gadgets such as the iPhone, iPad and iPod.

Apple has been cutting its orders from Samsung as it tries to diversify its lines of supply for memory chips, although the South Korean firm remains on the list of initial suppliers for the new iPhone, the source told Reuters. The person declined to be named because the negotiations are confidential.

Reuters

The Korea Economic Daily, citing an unnamed industry source, reported on Friday that Apple had dropped Samsung from the list of memory chip suppliers for the first batch of the new iPhone, whose release is widely expected to be announced on 12 September.

The report said Apple instead picked Japan’s Toshiba Corp, Elpida Memory and Korea’s SK Hynix to supply DRAM and NAND chips.

“Samsung is still in the list of initial memory chip suppliers (for new iPhones). But Apple orders have been trending down and Samsung is making up for the reduced order from others, notably Samsung’s handset business,” the Reuters source said.

The source denied market speculation that the reduced orders from Apple were mainly due to a souring relationship between the two companies, which are locked in global patent disputes, and said Apple had already been looking to widen its supply chain.

The US firm frequently faces a supply crunch when a new product is launched, triggering a consumer stampede that drives demand far in excess of supply and production capability.

Earlier this year, a source told Reuters that Elpida was selling more than half of its mobile DRAM chips to Apple.

Apple and Samsung are locked in a patent wrangle in 10 countries as they vie for market share in the booming mobile industry.

Apple won a landmark victory last month after a US jury found the South Korean firm had copied key features of the iPhone and awarded Apple $1.05 billion in damages.

Samsung declined to comment and Apple was not immediately available to comment.

iPhone 5 in trouble? Samsung to sue, HTC wants it banned

iPhone 5 in trouble? Samsung to sue, HTC wants it banned

Update: According to a Korea Times report, Samsung is also going to file a patent complaint against Apple’s new iPhone. The report says,

“It’s true that Samsung Electronics has decided to take immediate legal action against the Cupertino-based Apple. Countries in Europe and even the United States ― Apple’s home-turf ― are our primary targets,”said an industry source.

Apple’s new iPhone is out tomorrow but the Cupertino tech giant’s flagship device could face an import ban if tech company HTC gets its way.

HTC wants the new iPhone and the current 4G LTE iPad banned, because its says Apple infringed an LTE patent owned by HTC. According to The Register, “Apple is subject to an ongoing investigation by the the International Trade Commission (ITC) under Judge Thomas Pender, after Taiwanese company HTC filed a complaint in August 2011.”

ZDNet reports that ”HTC filed this lawsuit against Apple for infringing on two patents it owns for LTE connection methods.  HTC acquired the patents from ADC Telecommunications Inc in April 2011.” 

The new iPhone is likely to come with 4G internet with LTE or Long Term Evolution, which is a standard for wireless communication of high-speed data for mobile phones and data terminals.

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According to this Bloomberg report, ITC judge, Pender has refused to quash HTC’s patents as invalid, stating that “I don’t care if they bought these patents to sue you or not. They are a property right.”

Bloomberg’s report also says, that initially HTC had alleged that Apple violated five of its patents which it acquired from Google. But “Pender threw out that part of the case, saying HTC didn’t have adequate ownership control under the terms of its agreement with Google. 

The wicket slowed down and it was difficult to hit later: Dhoni

The wicket slowed down and it was difficult to hit later: Dhoni

Chennai: Despite on the driver’s seat for most part of their chase, India failed in their attempt to beat the Kiwis in a T20 match as the hosts lost to New Zealand by one run in a thrilling encounter at M Chidambaram Stadium on Tuesday. Blaming the wicket for behaving differently in the second half of the game Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni said the wicket slowed down and it was difficult to hit.

“We should have won the match. Virat gave us a good start but the wicket slowed down and it was difficult to hit later. Our worry was how the wicket would behave in the second half. After the 10th or 12th over it got tough. It was good to see the approach in the start of the innings. It's good for us going into the World Cup,” said Dhoni.

Meanwhile winning captain Ross Taylor said that the win would boost the confidence of his side going into the World Cup. “Franklin needs a big pat on the back. Kohli could have taken it away from us. But Southee took a good catch off Franklin and that changed the course of the match. Hopefully we can take this confidence through,” said Taylor.

Meanwhile, Brendon McCullum who was Man of the Match for his stupendous knock that bailed the Kiwis out of a precarious situation and who was later involved with a nasty collision with Kyle Mills in their attempt to take Yuvraj’s catch, said, “My head's ok. Kyle's a bit dazed at the moment. Pitch was really good for 20 overs. A lot of our guys are getting more worldly when it comes to these conditions. The collision was probably my fault."

New Zealand sneak through by 1 run in the 2nd T20I against India

New Zealand sneak through by 1 run in the 2nd T20I against India

Chennai: Yuvraj Singh nonchalantly swung his bat across the line to a length delivery from Vettori and the ball crashed into the crowds for a six. That moment screamed out that Yuvraj Singh is back. In the 10th over, Yuvraj Singh had walked to the middle to a massive ovation marking his comeback; cricket had taken a backseat at that moment. Scorecard» | Highlights» |India vs New Zealand: As it happened…» After 40 overs though, it was New Zealand who triumphed over the fancied Indians by just 1 run. Set a target of 168, India managed 166. James Franklin bowled the final over conceding 11 runs, as India needed 13. Ross Taylor raced towards Franklin and lifted him like a rugby player, they were jubilant to register a victory in the series but even they would have thought of Yuvraj’s triumph against life for a moment on the field. Yuvraj was all set for a fairytale ending. He had valiantly scored 34 runs off 26 balls. Last over remained and 13 runs were needed. Franklin had the ball, he conceded a single in the first ball, Dhoni wildly got the second for a boundary. Franklin bowled a wide next up. Dhoni took a single then. Franklin bowled a slower one, Yuvraj went way too early with the shot, stumps rattled, the fairytale came to an end. A valiant effort from the left-hander, he left the field as a winner. 6 runs were needed off the last two balls, Rohit Sharma tried to go for the maximum on both the occasions and ended getting two doubles. Franklin finished his quota of overs with figures of 4-0-26-2 and an economy rate of 6.50 RPO. India finished with 166, 1 run short of the Kiwis total and 2 short of the target. On the backdrop of Yuvraj’s comeback match Brendon McCullum cut loose on the Indians, particularly on Ashwin, hammering a 55-ball 91 to power New Zealand to 167 in a tricky Chennai track after being put into bat by MS Dhoni. Zaheer Khan and Irfan Pathan had removed the openers Rob Nicol (0) and Martin Guptill (1) within the first two overs. McCullum, who came one down and Kane Williamson got the Kiwis going with a 90-run partnership in 11 overs. McCullum came to the crease with his dancing shoes on and he danced down the track more often than not to heave the spinners out of the park. Ross Taylor (25*) then joined McCullum in the middle but took time to get his eyes in. Irfan Pathan scalped McCullum courtesy a left-arm orthodox off-spin ball that had the Kiwi batsman playing all around it. New Zealand managed 167. In reply, in the absence of Viru, Virat Kohli opened the innings and launched into his free flowing form almost immediately. By the fifth over, Kohli had five boundaries to his name as Gambhir departed cheaply. Raina came into the middle and a partnership of 60 with Kohli put India on course to a comfortable victory. Raina departed for 27 in the 11th over as Yuvraj walked in. A fairytale saga awaited its perfect ending. That sixer off Vettori reaffirmed the ending. But, in the 13th over Taylor introduced James Franklin, out of compulsion as a collision led to strike bowler Kyle Mills off the field. Franklin picked up Kohli (70) against the run of play in his first over and conceded just 5 runs. With all eyes solely on Yuvraj, Dhoni’s struggle in the middle went unnoticed. Next over, Vettori conceded just 5 runs. At that time 39 runs were needed off 30 balls. The next three overs yielded just 14 runs. Yuvraj flicked one over square leg for a massive six off Oram in the penultimate over to raise the Indian hopes. But that final yielded for just 11 runs. Brendon McCullum was adjudged man of the match and man of the series.