Samsung Is Still Building Chips For Apple And Expects To Supply 14nm A9 SoCs In 2015
Apple knows better than to cut off its nose to spite its face, as the saying goes, hence why it still contracts Samsung to build the custom System-on-Chips (SoCs) that end up in iOS devices like the iPhone and iPad. Will that relationship continue between these two bitter rivals? It would appear so, based on comments made by Kim Ki-nam, present of Samsung's semiconductor business.
Ki-nam told reporters that once Samsung begins to supply Apple with SoCs using its latest technology, profits "will improve positively," ZDNet reports. While that's not an outright confirmation that Samsung will have a hand in building Apple's custom A9 SoC based on its 14nm manufacturing process, it's about as close as you can get to one without actually saying it.
ZDNet Korea claims to have heard from sources that Samsung already has a contract with Apple to produce A9 chips, or whatever the A8's successor is called, and that it will indeed be based on the 14nm technology. What's not known, however, is how many chips Samsung will responsible for.
As it stands, Samsung reportedly supplies Apple with about 30 percent of the A8 chips it uses for iOS devices, while TSMC builds out the other 70 percent. This is due to Apple wanting to sever ties with Samsung, something that's easier said than done, especially when their manufacturing relationship is so mutually beneficial,
Ki-nam told reporters that once Samsung begins to supply Apple with SoCs using its latest technology, profits "will improve positively," ZDNet reports. While that's not an outright confirmation that Samsung will have a hand in building Apple's custom A9 SoC based on its 14nm manufacturing process, it's about as close as you can get to one without actually saying it.
ZDNet Korea claims to have heard from sources that Samsung already has a contract with Apple to produce A9 chips, or whatever the A8's successor is called, and that it will indeed be based on the 14nm technology. What's not known, however, is how many chips Samsung will responsible for.
As it stands, Samsung reportedly supplies Apple with about 30 percent of the A8 chips it uses for iOS devices, while TSMC builds out the other 70 percent. This is due to Apple wanting to sever ties with Samsung, something that's easier said than done, especially when their manufacturing relationship is so mutually beneficial,
