An article in Bloombergbusinessweek (April 1,2013) describes Apple’s supply chain strategy which outsources all hardware but controls software access and apps to Samsung’s strategy that produces all hardware but uses the Android open source software. Does producing components for competitors like Apple give Samsung a glimpse into market trends in advance ? Does Samsung’s hardware control enable it to experiment with different models with different screen sizes to choose the best ? Or is it the large capital investment in fabrication facilities that enables the company to be successful in being an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) of cell phones ? Ultimately is vertical integration of hardware or control of software a winning proposition for cell phone market dominance ?