14 DAY TRIAL // Looks like Apple is just about ready to start a legal battle, or more of them, with ASUS instead of Samsung this time, or so one may assume from the rather awkward situation that Pegatron got landed with.
Pegatron is currently making ultrathin mobile personal computers for both Apple and Asustek Computer.
In the case of Apple, Pegatron builds MacBook Air devices, while its contract with Asus has it making Zenbook ultrabooks as well.
According to Digitimes, the latter contract will be terminated at some point in March, meaning that ASUS has about a month to look for a different supplier.
The cause behind this is a supposed ultimatum that Apple issued to Pegatron out of frustration with the Zenbook model.
Apparently, the Cupertino giant is none too pleased with the unibody construction of the ultrabooks, believing that it makes them too similar to its MacBook Air.
Following this event, ASUS will approach either Compal Electronics or Wistron, if it hopes to preserve its level of Zenbook inventories.
Digitimes itself cited a Chinese-language Commercial Times report as the source of this information.
Given Pegatron's other endeavors, it makes sense that the product manufacturer would choose as it did.
After all, rather than just MacBook Airs, it builds iPhones as well (it began in 2011). Pegatron also hopes to make next-generation iPads sooner or later.
Apple has proven very possessive of those design features it feels it has exclusive rights to, as evident from how relentlessly it has been battling Samsung over the perceived similarities of the iPad and Galaxy Tab 10.1.
The claims in Australia are particularly expansive, as the recent explosion (in scope) of the lawsuit clearly shows.
There hasn't been much murmur about a similar courtroom fight against ASUS over the Zenbook, but none can tell for sure if things will stay this way.