Apple CEO Tim Cook was put off suing Samsung due to their complicated supplier-rival relationship.
While Jobs was CEO, Cook worked as the company’s trusty CFO. By Jobs’ own admission Cook was “not a product person,” rather his expertise lied in refining Apple’s production lines and drastically streamlining the inventory process at a time the company was on the precipice of bankruptcy.
It stands to reason Cook wouldn’t want perverse litigation with one of Apple’s biggest component suppliers spoiling the bottom line, as an excerpt from the Reuters report reveals.
“Tim Cook, Jobs’ successor as Apple chief executive, was opposed to suing Samsung in the first place, according to people with knowledge of the matter, largely because of that company’s critical role as a supplier of components for the iPhone and the iPad. Apple bought some $8 billion worth of parts from Samsung last year, analysts estimate.”
Cook was right as in November of last year, Samsung upped the price of Apple processors by 20 percent.
