Apple pre-pays $500 mln to Toshiba in supply deal

Apple Inc entered into a long-term supply agreement with Toshiba Corp for flash chips, making a $500 million prepayment to the loss-making Japanese chipmaker, a transcript of Apple's conference call with analysts showed.

Apple Inc entered into a long-term supply agreement with Toshiba Corp for flash chips, making a $500 million prepayment to the loss-making Japanese chipmaker, a transcript of Apple's conference call with analysts showed.

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The deal is a boon for the world's No.2 maker of NAND flash chips, which is grappling with sluggish chip prices and competition against bigger rival Samsung Electronics Co Ltd of South Korea.

The $500 million pre-payment is equivalent to about one quarter's worth of Apple's demand for NAND flash chips, sources said.