Samsung Rapped on Knuckles for iPod Leak


Apple's partnership with SigmaTel for iPod chips is a deliberate poke in the eye for Samsung, EE Times reports.

A Samsung executive last month ran off at the mouth, revealing that Samsung's PortalPlayer would drive the next-gen iPod Nano. Samsung was thought by market analysts to be a good bet to get the Apple contract, particularly given that SigmaTel has been on a rocky financial road, but the iPod MP3 processor contract will yield significant revenues for the company.

"It is not surprising that Apple would 'punish' Samsung for commenting publicly about its position within the iPod Nano follow-on, and we believe that SigmaTel is likely to be the resulting beneficiary of the Samsung executive's gaffe," Morgan Securities' Craig Berger is quoted as saying the article.

The San Jose-based SigmaTel has found it hard going against Chinese and South Korean semiconductor makers. Apple's cash injection still might not be enough, is the Forbes summary of its financials.