Samsung Official Reportedly Denies 20% Processor Price Hike For Apple

Apple may not be getting squeezed by a Samsung pricing change as previously reported, according to new info from Seoul-based newspaper The Hankyoreh. The paper received word from an unnamed Samsung official who said that pricing is established at the outset of every year, and remains fairly inflexible throughout, meaning a sudden, dramatic rise isn’t even necessarily possible given the arrangements between the two companies.

It’s still possible Apple will face such an increase when contracts are renegotiated, and the new report doesn’t address the earlier report that Apple had looked at walking away from Samsung as a supplier for application processors. But for the moment, it seems that the mutual dependency Apple and Samsung enjoy in their supply relationship continues to override their enmity towards each other from ongoing legal battles, patent disputes and competition for the global smartphone crown.

This is good news for both sides of the equation, in fact, since it may mean that there’s less tension on the supply side of the equation than previously thought. For Apple, that means it doesn’t have to worry about replacing its biggest component partner in the immediate future, and for Samsung, it means not having to make up new revenue sources to replace the sizeable chunk it makes from having Apple as a customer, at least not as a result of driving away its business through price hikes.