Samsung has a team of 200 dedicated to exclusively working on screens for Apple

(Reuters) - Samsung Electronics Co has created a standalone team of about 200 employees to work exclusively on making screens for rival smartphone maker Apple Inc's products, Bloomberg reported, citing people with direct knowledge of the matter.

The team at Samsung Display Co, which provides screens for iPads and MacBooks, helps develop products and is only allowed to share information about Apple's business within the group, Bloomberg said.

The team, formed on April 1, also helps with sales and Apple is now the biggest external customer for Samsung components, Bloomberg said.

Apple spokesman Josh Rosenstock and a Samsung Display spokesman declined to comment on the report.

Samsung and Apple last year agreed to drop all patent litigation outside the United States, scaling down a protracted legal battle between the smartphone rivals.

The legal battle between the smartphone rivals began in the United States in 2011 when Apple accused Samsung of copying its iPhone designs. Samsung countered that Apple was using pieces of its wireless-transmission technology without permission.

(Reporting by Supriya Kurane in Bengaluru and Hyunjoo Jin in Seoul; Editing by Anupama Dwivedi)