TSMC expected to net big revenue boost on Apple 'A10' chips for 'iPhone 7'

Apple processor maker TSMC is reportedly forecast to grow revenues almost 20 percent sequentially in its third quarter, owing primarily to shipments of "A10" processors for Apple's "iPhone 7."

Those shipments should begin shortly, said Taiwan's Central News Agency, quoted by DigiTimes. To a lesser extent, revenues are expected to benefit from chips for Android phones, graphics processors, and virtual reality.

Past rumors have claimed that TSMC will receive most or all of Apple's A10 orders, at least temporarily diminishing Samsung's position in the supply chain. Until a few years ago Samsung was the exclusive producer of A-series processors at a factory in Austin, Texas.

Apple has gradually tried to reduce its dependence on Samsung — which sells competing phones, tablets, and computers — but has only had limited success, given that the company is one of the few manufacturers that can keep up with demand for products like iPhones.

It's in fact rumored that Samsung will be brought back into A-series production, handling a third of orders for next year's "A11" chips. That might tie in with reports that Apple is going deliberately low-key with the iPhone 7, instead working towards major upgrades for next year's model, including possibly an OLED display with integrated camera and Touch ID components. If the device is intended to be a "blockbuster" product, TSMC might not be enough to keep up with demand.

14 Comments

thewhitefalcon 4444 comments · 10 Years

About 8 years ago

Bull. TSMC was sole supplier of the A8 and kept up with demand just fine - the LCD panels for the Plus were the issue. I'm not sure why this site is so determined to rag on TSMC and praise Samscum.

levi 344 comments · 10 Years

thewhitefalcon said:

Bull. TSMC was sole supplier of the A8 and kept up with demand just fine - the LCD panels for the Plus were the issue. I'm not sure why this site is so determined to rag on TSMC and praise Samscum.

Samsung supplied some percentage of chips. This isn't a slight to TSMC, nor an endorsement of Samsung - it's fact. There are advantages to having more than one supplier - price, capacity, redundancy, etc

ericthehalfbee 4489 comments · 13 Years

Looking forward to see what Apple brings with the A10.

Perhaps this time we'll see it come with a GPU custom designed by Apple. Then they'll have 100% control over their processors.

wizard69 13358 comments · 21 Years

levi said:

thewhitefalcon said:

Bull. TSMC was sole supplier of the A8 and kept up with demand just fine - the LCD panels for the Plus were the issue. I'm not sure why this site is so determined to rag on TSMC and praise Samscum.

Samsung supplied some percentage of chips. This isn't a slight to TSMC, nor an endorsement of Samsung - it's fact. There are advantages to having more than one supplier - price, capacity, redundancy, etc

Beyond that I've seen no evidence at all that Apple has tried to reduce reliance upon Samsung. Apple moving from vendor to be endow has been largely driven by performance demands. If the rumors about TSMC new stacking architecture are true and cost effective they only rational move for Apple is to move all production to TSMC for the A10. It is a gamble however, as you note having only a single supplier / production location has its own risks. These are risks companies generally try to avoid. Going back to Samsung for part of the A11 production is all about mitigating those risks. I really don't think people understand business here. Like you said lots of advantages to more than one supplier. Plus any amount of production kept in the USA is a very positive thing.

ericthehalfbee said:

Looking forward to see what Apple brings with the A10.

Perhaps this time we'll see it come with a GPU custom designed by Apple. Then they'll have 100% control over their processors.

Yep, even if a new iOS device isn't isn't the cards, I still look forward to threads diving into Apples hardware designs. Interestingly if they do go with stacked dies, it will make tear downs and photo micro graphs of the "chip" a bit more difficult. This tech could have very interesting application for things like Apples watch. However in iPhone type chips it could lead to even more performance without a nice size drop.

im not sure we will ever see a fully Apple designed GPU. It would've nice that is sure but I suspect they will license Imaginations IP and build from there. Going to stacked dies though has interesting implications, the GPU for example could become a separate chip. Or they could implement a large high speed RAM in the stack for the GPU or for the entire system. The tech might even be there to integrate things like a GPS radio.

im very interested to see what Apple dies to advance CPU performance once again. Will we see try core or further advancements in instructions per cycle? Lots of things to wonder about and frankly we haven't seen leaks related to this in years.