> Apple Inc. is one of the best-known companies for perfecting the art of vertical integration. The company manufactures its custom A-series chips for its iPhones and iPads. It also manufactures its custom touch ID fingerprint sensor. Apple opened up a laboratory in Taiwan for developing LCD and OLED screen technologies in 2015. It also paid $18.2 million for a 70,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in North San Jose in 2015. These investments allow Apple to move along the supply chain in a backward integration, giving it flexibility and freedom in its manufacturing capabilities.