Tensions appear to be cooling down between Apple and Samsung, Bloomberg reports, as the two rivals set aside costly legal battles in favour of collaboration on some of the best-selling mobile products in the world.

Apple and Samsung used to be iPhone manufacturing allies, but Steve Jobs dropped lucrative supply contracts to instead engage in seemingly eternal patent spats, all part of the late CEO's war against Android. However current Apple boss Tim Cook appears to have a softer view of the Korean titan-- in August 2014 the two companies agreed to start burying the legal war hatchet (by "drop[ping] all litigation between the two companies outside the United States”), and now Samsung is reportedly back in the iPhone component game.

Such an improvement in relationships makes for better business sense, really. After all, Samsung has some of the biggest and most sophisticated chip-making facilities around, which are exactly what Apple needs if it wants to continue making sales record-setting mobile devices.

Mind, not that this is good news for the rest of the industry-- previous iPhone chip supplier TSMC is already slashing its spending forecasts, as is SanDisk. Bloomberg says the iPhone accounted for 19% of the memory maker's revenues, and as such Apple's cozying up with Samsung brings bad news for other all component suppliers, such as Micron, SK Hynix and AU Optronics.

Further bad news for component makers comes from Samsung itself, whose latest smartphones feature an increasing amount of in-house components, including processors, storage, modems and image processors. That said, smartphones mean the two companies retain a rivalry, and as such do not be surprised if tensions flare up again anytime in the near future.

Go Apple and Samsung are Friendly Again, and the Competition Should Be Terrified (Bloomberg)