After being cut out of Apple’s DRAM supply chain as of the iPhone 5, Samsung has worked its way back into the starting lineup for the iPhone 6. The South Korean firm will reportedly be one of three companies that will be supplying dynamic random access memory for Apple’s new handset.
Samsung was actually cut out of Apple’s DRAM business starting with the iPhone 5 and carrying over to the iPhone 5s, according to analyst Timothy Arcuri of Cowen and Company. But for the “iPhone 6,” Samsung has been reportedly brought back into the fold, he said in a note to investors on Monday, a copy of which was provided to AppleInsider.
The report says that other suppliers for iPhone 6 DRAM will include Micron and Elpida. DRAM is the system memory inside the iPhone’s A-Series processors that power the handsets.
It is unknown at this time exactly how much DRAM will be included in Apple’s new flagship device. However, Acuri believes Apple will take up so much of the overall DRAM market this fall that prices will increase between 3 and 5% in September.
Apple frenemy Samsung, although a direct competitor with Apple in the smartphone and tablet markets, is also a key supplier for the Cupertino firm. The South Korean firm has built Apple’s A-Series processors that power Apple’s iPhone and iPad, and also supplied the DRAM found in the iPhone up till 2012, when Apple dropped them as a supplier and used other suppliers, such as Toshiba, Elpida Memory, and SK Hynix.
