Apple signs deal with rival chip maker, still uses Samsung

Apple is giving Samsung the cold shoulder. It's inked a deal with a different chip-maker to provide innards to its gadgets like the iPhone. But it'll still have to rely on Samsung for the time being.

The fierce rivals will have to work together well into next year, as Apple's deal with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) doesn't start until 2014, the Wall Street Journal reports. According to an exec from TSMC, Samsung will remain the primary supplier to Apple until then. The two will have to let bygones be bygones, and try to pretend all those lawsuits they keep slapping each other with aren't happening.

The deal with TSMC was discussed as early as 2010. Apple initially wanted to work together to make the chips, but this was rejected by TSMC, as it wanted to keep its independence. The partnership was delayed repeatedly, beset by glitches preventing the chips from meeting Apple's speed and power standards.

Apple wants to break free from Samsung, seeing as the two are now arch rivals. The Korean company has enjoyed a stratospheric rise of late, and is now the biggest seller of smart phones in the world, with its flagship Galaxy S4selling even faster than the S3.

This has prompted a host of spinoffs, including the S4 Zoom, which you can get your hands on in just over a week, and the S4 Mini, which is on sale right now.

The Californian company has already stopped buying Samsung screens to use for the iPhone. It's also cut back on the number of Samsung screens it uses in its iPad, and started going elsewhere for its flash memory, sources say.

Do you think the two companies should just try and get along? Or is it too late for that? Do you think using a different company's chips will change the iPhone somehow? Let me know in the comments, or on our user-powered Facebook page.