Apple hires Samsung exec as global head of battery development

“Apple Inc. has hired an executive from Samsung SDI Co., the battery making affiliate of Samsung Electronics Co., to help lead its own battery work,” Mark Gurman and Sam Kim report for Bloomberg.
“Soonho Ahn joined Apple in December as global head of battery developments, after working as a senior vice president at Samsung SDI since 2015, according to his LinkedIn profile,” Gurman and Kim report. “At Samsung SDI, Ahn led development of lithium battery packs and worked on ‘next-generation’ battery technology, the profile says.”
“The iPhone maker has been trying to reduce reliance on third-party components, and the notable battery technology hire suggests it may be doing the same for batteries,” Gurman and Kim report. “Apple has also been in talks to buy cobalt, a key component of battery packs, directly from miners.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: This is a potentially explosive development.