Apple Computer , the maker of iPod digital music players, has dropped a joint $3.8 billion investment plan for flash chip production with Samsung Electronics.

Apple, had plans to buy as much as 40 percent of Samsung's flash memory output in the second half of this year for its popular iPod Shuffle and other music players reports Reuters. Last Week Macworld reported that South Korea's anti-trust regulator had plans to question Apple Computer and Samsung about unfair trading practices. Samsung reportedly sold a significant amount of its NAND flash memory chips to Apple at a discounted rate for the launch of the iPod nano.

"Apple had proposed a joint investment with Samsung Electronics in the production lines of NAND flash chips used for its MP3 players," a senior Samsung official was quoted by the Korea Economic Daily as saying.

"But as the anti-Samsung sentiment has recently deepened among some political and civic groups, Apple ended the talks, complaining about the sentiment,"