Apple CEO Tim Cook met with Samsung execs this week to discuss patent issues

Unnamed Samsung officials told the Korean news website that the company placed added importance on the meeting as they were “very important business partners,’ thanks to large orders for processors, LCDs and memory components used in Apple’s iDevices.

With Samsung providing $7.8 billion in parts for Apple’s devices in 2012, Apple has become the Korean company’s largest customer.

In May, Samsung Electronics CEO Choi Gee-sung and mobile chief Shin Jong-kyun returned from talks with Tim Cook in San Francisco, following a request by Judge Koh in April. The judge is presiding over two lawsuits between Apple and Samsung in California courts.

Overseen by U.S. Magistrate Judge Joseph C. Spero, the voluntary meeting would have made either party look like they were being uncooperative if they hadn’t taken part, and they were unable to reach a resolution.

In fact, following the talks, Samsung went on to win a case in the UK on July 10, where the UK High Court ruled that the Galaxy Tab was not a copy of the iPad. As a result, Apple has been ordered to place a notice on its website and take out advertisements in the press to state that very fact.

Apple and Samsung are heading back to California courts in just over a week. If the trial goes ahead as planned, we will know that the second round of talks went the same way as the first.

Source: TNW