Apple is famous for being the world's biggest and most influential buyer of electronic components for personal devices. The American company's business is as lucrative as it is prestigious, owing to Apple's vast scale and concordantly massive orders. No better evidence of this can be presented than today's Bloomberg report suggesting that Samsung has set up a dedicated team of 200 people committed to the task of making displays for Apple devices. The group is said to have been created at the beginning of this month, alongside a broader restructuring of Samsung's display business that sees its LCD and OLED divisions split into two separate units. A company spokesperson has confirmed that structural split to Bloomberg, but declined to elaborate.

Samsung's effort to cater more specifically to Apple's display requirements is apparently not unique, as LG is said to have a similar unit dedicated to serving Apple's needs. These bespoke services show just how aggressively parts manufacturers are pursuing Apple's business, even while their parent companies directly compete with, and occasionally even litigate against, Apple. Still, relations between Samsung and Apple have been steadily warming ever since their big courtroom clash of 2012, and Samsung isn't limiting itself to making just displays for Apple, either.

A December report from Korea's Electronic Times suggested that Samsung has secured orders for manufacturing the processor for Apple's next iPhone, which Bloomberg has corroborated via separate sources familiar with the matter. Bloomberg's information differs, as it claims Samsung will be producing Apple's A9 chip at its Giheung plant in South Korea rather than its Austin, Texas facility, as initially reported by Electronic Times. In any case, it seems likely that the next iPhone and iPad will rely significantly on Apple's biggest competitor for their internal components. The symbiotic relationship between the United States and Korea's biggest electronics companies continues.