Contrary to swirling speculations, Apple brushed aside its on ongoing legal tiff with Samsung Electronics and employed the South Korean firm's technology in powering the new iPhone 4S.

Already a hit worldwide after barely a week of hitting global shelves, the latest Apple smartphone uses core silicon supplied by its fiercest rival at the moment, according to chip analysis firm Chipworks.

U.S.-based tech news site CNET reported on Tuesday that despite earlier talks of Apple ditching Samsung as one of its major component supplier for both the million-selling iPhones and iPads, the company stuck it out with Asia's leading consumer electronics manufacturer.

In an interview with the tech publication, Chipworks product manager Jim Morrison confirmed that Apple deployed the same A5 processor that was first used by the Cupertino, California-based company on the second iteration of iPad.

Noting that A5 is a 45-nanometer dual-core part, Morrison added that Samsung's footprint on the new iPhone 4S is now part of the handset's system-on-a-chip (SoC) that comprises the device hardware's main processor, graphics silicon, and system memory or random access memory (RAM).

Prior to the iPhone 4S release on Oct. 4, Apple and Samsung got entangled in a number of lawsuits that saw the launching postponement of the latter's new flagship tablet computer, the Galaxy Tab 10.1, in a number of global markets that include Australia and Germany.

Apple has successfully convinced courts in many countries that Samsung lifted many features and technologies from iPad and iPhone in putting together its new gadget offerings as it sought to block the sale of the new Galaxy Tab 10.1.

Samsung has lodged retaliatory lawsuits that aim to stop the release of iPhone 4S in Australia, leaving the two firms locked in numerous legal tussles without any clear end in sight.

Analysts have been talking on the likelihood that Apple might switch to other provider for its SoC requirements and two possible candidates are the American firm Intel, which presently works with the tech titan on powering its Mac notebook and desktop lines, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC).

Yet the thought of derailing its smooth product launch may have prevented Apple from jumping ship too soon, according to analysts, who added that abrupt technology switch could endanger Apple's tradition of releasing products that hit right with tech experts and the general consumers.

Such consideration, CNET said, could justify Apple's reported move of still lining up Samsung as the likely supplier of the upcoming quad-core A6 processor before the company transitions into another provider in the event that its issue with the South Korean firm proves difficult to be resolved.

With that eventuality, analysts, according to CNET, are gravitating towards Intel as the next Apple partner for its future device releases, noting the company's technological advantage in the chip manufacturing arena.