Samsung said Wednesday it is in talks with Apple Computer to supply NAND flash memory chips on a long-term basis. The Korean company didn't provide further details for the potential multi-billion aggreement. Samsung and Apple had failed to agree on a possible joint investment in flash chip production last month, and according to Korean newspapers, Apple had pulled out of the joint $3.8 billion investment plan.

Samsung is the world's largest maker of NAND flash memory, used in hot-selling MP3 music players, digital cameras and high-end mobile phones.

However, curent Samsung's official statement brings up again the aggreement between the two companies, and sources indicate that it will be a long-term contract running until 2010 and that a quarter of Samsung's total NAND flash output is expected to go to Apple by that time.

As usual, such announcements are expected to boost Samsung's earnings.

Moreover,Hynix Semiconductor Inc. reiterated that it was holding talks with Apple to supply NAND chips.

In October, I.J. Kim, Hynix's vice president of memory sales and marketing said that the memory-chip maker was holding talks with Apple to supply chips, but declined to provide further details at the time.