With the recent release of the Apple iPhone X and the Samsung S8 the public is reminded of the several long winded legal disputes between the two tech giants. For years these two have been feuding with each other. In 2012, Samsung were found guilty by a jury of infringement and were ordered to pay Apple £1bn however since then this trial has been revisited and reworked. Yet this is only one of many trials throughout the years which has been fought across Europe and Asia.

One criticism that Apple often receives with the release of each new device that appears every couple years is that that new product is too similar to the old product with little, if any, noticeable changes. One of the key differences with the new iPhone is the brand new OLED screen. These screens are top of the range. There is no company that would be able to manufacture the sheer number of screens Apple would need to fulfill customer demand. There is no company that would be able match the tech giant’s order book, no company except Samsung. Apple’s biggest competitor in the smartphone market has been locked in legal battle with them for a good chunk of the decade.

Samsung have had a rough time recently. One of the heads of the company has been sentenced to prison time for bribery and the company have had to recall products that were literally exploding in people’s hands. However Samsung are still able to keep afloat as a lot of their business comes not from manufacturing and selling phones, tablets and TVs but designing and constructing innovative and top quality components for technology to be sold to other companies. Samsung rely on the fact that every company needs to rely on them to supply the products and they want to keep it that way. Making sure they will be able to meet supply Samsung invests heavily into new factories so that they can keep making the colossal number of products needed. Due to this Samsung are now the biggest chip manufacturer in the world and have a monopoly on OLED screens. As a result of this monopoly, the more the demand for OLED screens increases the more money Samsung make, even if that is through revenue made from Apple’s iPhone X. As well as this Samsung are able to charge Apple whatever they please for the coveted OLED screens as Apple are forced to go to them for the product.

Apple are clearly displeased with this situation and the only to stop this would be if there was an OLED manufacturer in competition with Samsung. Apple have recently invested £2.7bn in LG displays – this is no coincidence. Apple are not the only ones unhappy with the monopoly, Google have also invested ‘at least $880million to LG display for OLED investment’. This will likely not have any impact in the near future as Samsung is going to provide apple with their OLED screens for the next couple years until these development investments turn into real screens.

The Apple vs Samsung relationship in business has been one of the most interesting in business history. Bitter rivals, constantly antagonising each other and yet forced to work together and rely on each other. The two are the forefront of the constantly advancing technology landscape, consistently racing each other to manufacture and release their newest top of the line products. They rely on each other for both economic growth and motivation to be the best. The recent OLED screen debacle only proves the point that they are two are bitter rivals and yet need each other to survive.