Britain's biggest technology investors have warned tech giant Apple not to risk completely ruining its relationship with Samsung following its sweeping victory in a copyright and patent infringement case.
Apple won a major victory over Samsung last week, after a jury found that the South Korean company had copied critical features of the hugely popular iPhone and iPad and awarded the US company 1.05 billion dollars in damages.
Now, Apple is pushing to have several Samsung phones banned from shops in the United States after the Californian jury's ruling that Samsung was infringing six patents on the design and some software from the iPhone.
But the South Korean company is also a key supplier to Apple for the processors used in the iPhone and iPad.
"Apple needs strong suppliers. Apple needs to be careful what it wishes for. If this relationship deteriorated, you'd see Apple looking to diversify its supplier base, but that's hard to do," the Telegraph quoted Ben Rogoff, as saying, who manages 1.3 billion dollars in technology funds at Polar Capital in London.
The supplier relationship is particularly critical since Apple is expected to launch its fifth version of the iPhone this month, a device analysts are betting will drive sales to a new record, the paper said.
The supplier relationship has been also strengthened over the past year, with Samsung spending 4 billion dollars in upgrading a factory in Texas that makes application processors that Apple uses in its iPad and iPhone, it added.
{{/usCountry}}The supplier relationship has been also strengthened over the past year, with Samsung spending 4 billion dollars in upgrading a factory in Texas that makes application processors that Apple uses in its iPad and iPhone, it added.
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