14 DAY TRIAL // Samsung and Apple have an odd love-hate relationship, on one hand providing each other with chips (well, Samsung provides Apple with chips) and on another hand suing each other over patents and tablets.
The latest episode in the Samsung vs. Apple saga is not really something they deliberately sought. More like it's something analysts (Gartner) noticed after scoping the chip industry.
Simply put, Samsung and Apple accounted for 17% of all chip sales in 2013. In 2011 it was of 12%. That's how much their contribution has grown.
In addition to their own heavy marketing and advertizing efforts, the share is owed to the world in general, whose focus has shifted away from PCs and towards phones and tablets, and any other portable gadget, which Samsung and Apple deal substantially in.
Keep in mind that chip/semiconductor market includes ALL chips, from memory and CPUs to small integrated circuits.