Partner for A9 Chips
Apple will reportedly tap its rival Samsung to produce mobile chips for its next-generation iPhone and iPad.
Recode, a U.S.-based tech news site, reported on Feb. 4 (local time) that Samsung Electronics will produce A9s, Apple’s next-generation chips, in its state-of-the-art 14-nanometer processing line.
Apple designs its mobile processors on its own, but outsources the production. The American mobile giant outsourced the A8 chips for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6+ from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), though Apple has relied on Samsung for almost all of its iPhone chips in the past.
Samsung has the capability to mass produce low-power, high-speed chips for the iPhone and iPad. The company has a technological advantage over TSMC, which has difficulty in stepping up to the level of a 14-nanometer processing. That is the reason why the observation comes out that Apple will choose Samsung as the partner to secure a chip production in the future.
Recode’s report at this time is likely to quiet the rumors that Intel will provide mobile chips for Apple.
Intel also has a 14-nanometer chip processing facility. It is also known to be superior to Samsung when it comes to integrating 3D transistors, which are more power efficient and faster for smartphones and tablets.
Samsung Electronics has invested US$14.0 billion to ensure a production capability to manufacture chips for mobile devices and industrial machinery, and unveiled at the end of last year that it could start supplying application processors that are produced in the 14-nanometer processing line.