Earlier this week, on Monday, MarketWatch posted an article, which sites Chosun Ilbo (a Korean newspaper) that claims Samsung has intentionally spiked prices for their A-series chips that power Apple’s iOS-based devices by 20 percent.
‘Samsung Electronics recently asked Apple for a significant price raise in (the mobile processor known as) application processor,’ the person was quoted as saying in the report. ‘Apple first disapproved it, but finding no replacement supplier, it accepted the (increase.)’
Although Apple’s newest A6 and A6X chips are entirely their own custom designs from their in-house chip team, Samsung has continued to supply Apple with the means for manufacturing the processors.
Today, The Street points to a new article from a different Korean newspaper, The Hankyoreh, which cites a Samsung executive who stated that the rumors of a price increase for Apple’s A-series chips are false and inaccurate.
The unnamed official noted that prices are set at the beginning of the year and aren’t changed easily.
Although it was never very likely that Samsung increased Apple’s cost by roughly 20 percent, as they likely have an ironclad contract that prevents against erratic price increases, it certainly reignited some of the Apple versus Samsung debates throughout the blogosphere earlier this week. Stay tuned for additional coverage on both Apple and Samsung.
