Apple is responsible for the mobile industry's move to 64-bit processors within smartphones after it announced the iPhone 5s in September, according to Mark Liu, co-CEO of major chip company TSMC.
This is something many industry pundits have been whispering for sometime, so it's interesting to hear from such a higher-up in the chip business. Liu, speaking at a TSMC quarterly results meeting, said it pretty bluntly...
Shortly after Taiwan’s Commercial Times ran a story about Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) seemingly having started production of an upcoming Apple-designed A8 chip on an exclusive basis (as Samsung reportedly dropped out of the race due to yield issues), an unnamed Samsung executive in a defensive PR move took to blogs to argue that the rumor is greatly exaggerated.
Pouring cold water on the Commercial Times report, the Galaxy maker told ZDNet Korea (via GforGames) that the conglomerate has already signed a contract with Apple concerning next-generation A8 chip production. Moreover, the firm is currently in the final testing phases and is gearing up to kick off mass A8 production at its Austin, Texas facility.
The multi-billion dollar chip plant is almost entirely dedicated to Apple silicon production. Samsung's semiconductor arm has thus far churned out every iOS device processor since the original iPhone...
A new story published by Taiwan's Commercial Times (Google translate) and relayed by Agence France Presse has it that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the world's largest independent foundry, has begun churning out A8 chips that will likely serve as the engine for the coming wave of iOS devices, namely the iPhone 6 and the next iPad.
TSMC also builds Touch ID sensors for the iPhone 5s. The firm is understood to account for the bulk of A8 chip manufacture as Apple's been attempting to decrease its reliance on Samsung, which up until recently used to exclusively build mobile processors for iOS devices based on Apple's blueprints...
According to industry sources, Apple has seemingly commissioned Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) to build Touch ID fingerprint sensors for a next-generation iPhone, dubbed by the press the iPhone 6.
The manufacture of the sensors should start in the second quarter of 2014 at TSMC's twelve-inch fab, using the company's 65-nanometer process, according to a report the Asian industry publication DigiTimes filed on Tuesday...
After reporting that Apple supplier Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) will share next year's production of A8 chips with Samsung, the sometimes-reliable Taiwanese publication, DigiTimes, today said that the world's largest independent semiconductor foundry will account for more than half of total A9 chip output in 2015, with only one-third of chip manufacture to be handled by Samsung.
The South Korea-based Samsung up until this year used to exclusively produce Apple designed mobile processors for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices, but Apple's been looking to distance itself from the company in order to prevent Samsung engineers from getting an early glimpse into its upcoming chip tech...
The sometimes-reliable Taiwanese publication, DigiTimes, has been saying for years that Apple was shifting its chip manufacture away from Samsung and towards its rival, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC).
In its new report Monday, the trade publication now claims that TSMC will be responsible for the bulk of orders for Apple's next-generation processor, the A8 chip, with Samsung taking care of about one-third of orders...
It is no secret that Apple operates a few research and development centers overseas. In Israel, for instance, the company runs three R&D centers: one in Haifa, another stemming from its acquisition of the flash memory developer Anobit and the third opening soon in the Israeli city of Ra’anana.
Yet another R&D facility is scheduled to open later this year in Pudong, Shanghai and now we learn that an all-new R&D center dedicated to iPhone development will be opening in Taiwan, where most of Apple's suppliers are located...
The Wall Street Journal recently ran a report claiming that Apple has finally inked a deal with TSMC, or Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., to produce chips for iDevices, after the foundry met Apple’s requirements for speed and power usage. Pundits are adamant the agreement put the final nail in the coffin of the Apple-Samsung relationship.
They should hold their horses: it now seems Samsung has wrestled back some of the control amid talk its components arm will indeed produce sophisticated A9 chips to power Apple's iPhone 7 in 2015...
Following up a scoop from DigiTimes earlier this week, The Wall Street Journal is reporting this afternoon that Apple has finally inked a deal with TSMC, or Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., to produce chips used in the company's iPhone and iPad products.
The two sides reportedly signed the deal, which has been in the making for a few years now, earlier this month after TSMC met Apple's requirements for speed and power usage. And it signifies yet another move by the Cupertino firm to distance itself from Samsung...
After a long period of rumor mongering, it would seem that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the world's largest independent semiconductor foundry, is finally stealing Apple chip biz from rival Samsung. If a new report out of Taiwan is to be trusted, Apple has cut a long-term deal with TSMC to produce A-series chips for future iPhones, iPods and iPads built on TSMC's 20-nanometer, 16-nanometer and 10-nanometer process technology.
If true, it's the final nail in the coffin in the strained Apple-Samsung technology relationship. And good riddance, too, because Samsung will no longer be able to have a headstart of Apple's future semiconductor solutions...
There's no escaping budget iPhone talk today. Reuters opened the morning discussion with a write-up calling for two large-screen iPhones in 2014 and citing sources insisting that an elusive less-pricey iPhone will get released later this year at a somewhat unbelievable price point of just $99.
Shortly after, the reliable Japanese blog Macotkara learned from its sources that the alleged budget iPhone will come in five colors borrowed from Apple's iPhone 5 bumpers: black, white, pink, orange and blue. A Chinese newspaper now seemingly corroborates the chatter, writing that a bunch of Taiwanese suppliers are now shipping parts ahead of the handset assembly...
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the world's leading independent semiconductor foundry, is reportedly finalizing production designs for Apple's in-house engineered A7 processor expected to power a 2014 wave of iPhone, iPad and iPod upgrades. If a new supply chain report is anything to go by, the chip will be fabbed on TSMC's 20-nanometer process technology, reportedly moving into risk production in May-June, with volume shipments expected in the first quarter of 2014.
TSMC has long been speculated to enter Apple's supply chain and become a manufacturer of the engine which powers iDevices. So far, Apple has fabbed all of its iDevice chips at Samsung's plant in Austin, Texas. This is the first time TSMC has been reported as actually prepping to manufacture Apple's next-gen A-series chip. Earlier this week, we heard that in addition to TSMC, Samsung and Intel are also vying for Apple chip contracts...