Apple Parts Company With Design Partner

Apple have announced that they are severing ties with SurfaceInk, an engineering design company Apple has worked alongside for a decade. The reason for this departure is pretty basic, Apple sees SurfaceInk as a competitor, or at the very least as aiding their competitors in the nascent tablet computing market. SurfaceInk has just developed its own prototype for a tablet device and is working with companies such as HP, which is rumoured to be releasing its own webOS powered tablet device either late this year or early next year. All of this won\'t be sitting well with El Jobso of course.

The New York Times spoke with Eric Bauswell, SurfaceInk CEO, about the parting of ways:

Mr. Bauswell declined to give details of its relationship with Apple, citing client confidentiality agreements. But he said that his company was let go because of "Apple’s growing awareness of our turnkey capabilities" referring to SurfaceInk business of designing products for its clients. "I think they view our capabilities as an opportunity for competitors" he said.