A Samsung employee told Korea Times that the company has stopped making touchscreens for Apple, a major component of the iPad. Despite legal tussles between the companies over design patents of smartphones and tablets on a near-global scale, Samsung maintained a supplier relationship with Apple, making touchscreens and contract-manufacturing ASICs at its semiconductor fabs. According to the employee's statement to the newspaper, Apple has become a troublesome customer paying less and less for LCD screens, resulting in the Korean company to cut back on orders. Apple has been paying half of what it used to for screens in the iPad 2. The upcoming iPad Mini, which will be launched a little later this week, will not feature Samsung screens.