Samsung Electronics is planning to manufacture Apple’s main chip for upcoming next iPhone model, regaining a customer previously lost to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing.
As per reports, Samsung is planning to initiate making Apple A9 processor chips at South Korea. According to come further anonymous resources; additional orders will go to Samsung’s partner Globalfoundries Inc.
Winning this order from Apple will help chipmaker rebound against TSMC (which last year ended Samsung’s monopoly over contracts to make iPhone and iPad chips). Not to mention, both manufacturers have boosted capital expenditures to gain business from Apple and Qualcomm Inc. in the more than US$300 billion semiconductor industry.Apple have been reported to pick TSMC for producing A8 processors for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus devices. In year 2011, those agreements came as the relationship between Apple and Samsung soured because of legal disputes.
According to Song Myung Sup (a Seoul-based analyst at HI Investment & Securities Co), Apple order may lead to additional business:
“If Globalfoundries quickly adopts Samsung’s most advanced technology and increases yield, it could also win orders from Qualcomm.”
Samsung and TSMC said they would invest heavily this year to put advanced production capabilities in their plants, moves that analysts said were based on assumptions they would get orders from Apple.Shares of Samsung closed flat at 1,434,000 won in Seoul today. The stock has risen 8.1% this year, compared with a 6.8% advance for the benchmark Kospi index.
Whereas Kelly Yeo (a spokeswoman for Samsung) made no reply to this when approached.
On the other hand, Kevin Kimbal, a Globalfoundries spokesman, said his company doesn’t comment on any customer relationships.
Also, Josh Rosenstock, an Apple spokesman, declined to comment.
Furthermore, Elizabeth Sun, a spokeswoman for TSMC, declined to comment.
