Apple Looking to Hire Samsung Battery Experts and Other High-Tech Employees

samsung_logoApple is hiring away Samsung employees working on next-generation technology, including signal- and visual-processing management, according to The Korea Times.

The report, citing unnamed officials at the South Korean tech giant, also claims that Apple has expanded its recruitment efforts to focus on Samsung personnel with expertise in battery technology amid rumors that it is working on an electric vehicle project.

"Some of our personnel have been hired by Apple. They now work at Apple's headquarters in San Jose, Calif.," said one official, adding that Apple offers highly-competitive benefits and large annual paychecks.

"Those former Samsung workers are given greater independence to proceed with their tasks. Apple prefers to use Samsung's chip experts because they are very diligent, mission-oriented and are prepared to acquire new knowledge," said another official.

Apple has reportedly assembled an automotive team with hundreds of employees working at a "top-secret research lab" near its Cupertino, California headquarters. Apple appears to be recruiting battery experts from multiple companies to join the team, as the company also faces a lawsuit for poaching key battery engineers from A123 Systems. That lawsuit also listed Samsung as one of the companies that Apple has been poaching battery engineers from.

Apple's appetite for hiring former Samsung personnel has expanded to the battery arena as the Cupertino-based company is reportedly developing electric vehicles, which means Apple needs battery experts. […]

"As the electric vehicle business is a new one, Apple needs patents and experts in battery technology. Top human resources firms have been approaching Samsung's battery experts, individually, and I think such human exchange moves are a win-win for both," said the official.

Earlier this month, multiple reports from credible sources claimed that Apple is working on an electric and possibly autonomous vehicle that could enter production in 2020. Some other reports, however, downplay the rumors by claiming that Apple is working on expanding its dashboard presence through CarPlay. Any electric car project at Apple is likely in the early stages of research and development at this time.

Tag: Samsung

Popular Stories

iPhone SE 4 Vertical Camera Feature

iPhone SE 4 Rumored to Use Same Rear Chassis as iPhone 16

Friday July 19, 2024 7:16 am PDT by
Apple will adopt the same rear chassis manufacturing process for the iPhone SE 4 that it is using for the upcoming standard iPhone 16, claims a new rumor coming out of China. According to the Weibo-based leaker "Fixed Focus Digital," the backplate manufacturing process for the iPhone SE 4 is "exactly the same" as the standard model in Apple's upcoming iPhone 16 lineup, which is expected to...
iPhone 16 Pro Sizes Feature

iPhone 16 Series Is Just Two Months Away: Everything We Know

Monday July 15, 2024 4:44 am PDT by
Apple typically releases its new iPhone series around mid-September, which means we are about two months out from the launch of the iPhone 16. Like the iPhone 15 series, this year's lineup is expected to stick with four models – iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max – although there are plenty of design differences and new features to take into account. To bring ...
bsod

Crowdstrike Says Global IT Outage Impacting Windows PCs, But Mac and Linux Hosts Not Affected

Friday July 19, 2024 3:12 am PDT by
A widespread system failure is currently affecting numerous Windows devices globally, causing critical boot failures across various industries, including banks, rail networks, airlines, retailers, broadcasters, healthcare, and many more sectors. The issue, manifesting as a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD), is preventing computers from starting up properly and forcing them into continuous recovery...
iphone 14 lineup

Cellebrite Unable to Unlock iPhones on iOS 17.4 or Later, Leak Reveals

Thursday July 18, 2024 4:18 am PDT by
Israel-based mobile forensics company Cellebrite is unable to unlock iPhones running iOS 17.4 or later, according to leaked documents verified by 404 Media. The documents provide a rare glimpse into the capabilities of the company's mobile forensics tools and highlight the ongoing security improvements in Apple's latest devices. The leaked "Cellebrite iOS Support Matrix" obtained by 404 Media...
Apple Watch Series 9

2024 Apple Watch Lineup: Key Changes We're Expecting

Tuesday July 16, 2024 7:59 am PDT by
Apple is seemingly planning a rework of the Apple Watch lineup for 2024, according to a range of reports from over the past year. Here's everything we know so far. Apple is expected to continue to offer three different Apple Watch models in five casing sizes, but the various display sizes will allegedly grow by up to 12% and the casings will get taller. Based on all of the latest rumors,...
tinypod apple watch

TinyPod Turns Your Apple Watch Into an iPod

Wednesday July 17, 2024 3:18 pm PDT by
If you have an old Apple Watch and you're not sure what to do with it, a new product called TinyPod might be the answer. Priced at $79, the TinyPod is a silicone case with a built-in scroll wheel that houses the Apple Watch chassis. When an Apple Watch is placed inside the TinyPod, the click wheel on the case is able to be used to scroll through the Apple Watch interface. The feature works...

Top Rated Comments

PowerBook-G5 Avatar
123 months ago
Apple is probably trying to poach from Samsung's two-week-old sCar department, brought together only by rumors of Apple making a car :P
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Rogifan Avatar
123 months ago
Tim Cook has just gone big.

Where are all those who criticised him 1-2 years ago?

It is interesting how just a few years ago people were questioning whether Apple needed to replace Tim Cook, there were rumors that the board was pressuring him to innovate faster etc. Heck just last month Engadet ran an article wondering when Apple became the boring one. Now with rumors of Apple doing R&D in the automobile space these same concern trolls are fearful that Apple is losing its focus, no longer believes in 'a thousand noes for every yes' etc. So basically no matter what Apple does it can't win. It's either too boring of losing focus.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Abazigal Avatar
123 months ago
And why not? Strengthen your own ranks while diminishing those of your strongest rivals. :p
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Porco Avatar
123 months ago
Unlike Apple, Samsung have removable battery experts? ;)
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Chupa Chupa Avatar
123 months ago
Tim Cook has just gone big.

Where are all those who criticised him 1-2 years ago?
Still here. Big Concepts do not equate to Big Realization. I still have big $ bets on Apple and Cook but he has yet to fully prove himself as the successor of Jobs as an idea guy. We will get a better glimpse of that as the Apple Watch rolls out, and of course between 2015 and 2020 Apple needs to have other all-new products. It can't just depend on the iPhone. 2020 is a long time away in corporate fiscal years.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
69Mustang Avatar
123 months ago
I don't get the Tim Cook hate. The man picked by the venerated Steve Jobs has only increased the company's profit every single year since becoming CEO. Increased the company's sphere of influence in many areas of society. Increased the company's social and philanthropic endeavors. Increased the company's green initiatives and attention to humane labor practices and influenced other companies to follow suit. Holy crap that's a lot of sentence fragments. :) He's done other things as well, but I think my point is clear. When judging a business, and not "my favorite company", it's hard to argue with the success of Cook's tenure at the helm.

He doesn't engender the cult of personality of Jobs, but so what? Jobs achieved success one way and Cook another. As a CEO, based on any quantitative data, I really can't think of any who've done a better job. Qualitatively, he hasn't done bad either. Neither Apple, Tim Cook, nor Steve Jobs is/was perfect; revisionist history notwithstanding. Comparatively speaking, CEO to CEO, I would put Cook's record against pretty much anyone else's.

To tie this back to the OP (apologies for the off topic rant), he is again demonstrating sound logic. Get the best battery people you can get to work on your EV. If rumor of the car is true, Cook is acquiring top level talent to try to make the project a more successful endeavor. He could have gone with the super secret double pinky swear in-house only route and more than likely failed. There's no guarantee the rumored project will be a success, but I doubt it will be because a lack of prep and planning.

TLDR; How many better CEO's are actually out there? What do people think a CEO's purpose is?

Sorry for length.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)