Slash Lane
TSMC already provides iPhone and iPad chips through foundry services for Broadcom, CSR, Cirrus Logic and Qualcomm. Now, it has also secured orders from Dialog Semiconductor to build power management chips for Apple's next-generation portable devices, according to DigiTimes.
TSMC and Dialog recently announced a cooperative venture to build the next generation of bipolar-CMOS-DMOS (BCD) technology. It will be featured in Dialog's future power management integrated circuits, which are expected to be available by the end of the year, just in time for Apple's anticipated next-generation iPhone.
The growing role of TSMC comes as the company is believed to be in the running to produce future "A6" and "A7" ARM-based processors for Apple's next-generation iOS devices. Last September it was said that TSMC signed a foundry agreement to build chips based on its 28-nanometer and 20-nanometer process technologies.
The Taiwanese company was said to have begun trial production of some Apple mobile chips last July, but it is believed that Apple's primary chip supplier remains one of its fiercest rivals: Samsung.
Rumors have suggested that Apple has looked to forge a closer alliance with TSMC to move away from Samsung. Though Apple and Samsung compete in the smartphone, tablet and PC markets, and are engaged in a series of lawsuits accusing each other of patent infringement, Samsung remains one of Apple's primary suppliers for ARM CPUs, flash memory and LCD displays.
The newfound partnership between TSMC and Dialog could result in more advanced power management chips in Apple's sixth-generation iPhone. The next iPhone is largely expected to arrive this fall, about a year after the launch of the iPhone 4S.
Malcolm Owen
Amber Neely
Christine McKee
Andrew O'Hara
William Gallagher
17 Comments
I'm surprised someone like Toshiba doesn't see the opportunity to buy someone like TSMC and move more into components to compete with Samsung, rather than continue to try and sell their own computers, tablets, etc. There must be big money to be made as an Apple supplier, especially now that Apple want to disengage from their relationship with Samsung.
especially now that Apple want to disengage from their relationship with Samsung.
I cant remember seeing anything official along these lines. Sure, they have their spats in court, but Apple knows that Samsung is far and away the best at manufacturing the highly technical parts of its devices, and their manufacturing technology lead continues to grow every year with their ridiculously large R&D budget.
As an apple customer, one would hate for apple to drop Samsung for a less reliable company and end up with an xbox 360 on their hands
I cant remember seeing anything official along these lines. Sure, they have their spats in court, but Apple knows that Samsung is far and away the best at manufacturing the highly technical parts of its devices, and their manufacturing technology lead continues to grow every year with their ridiculously large R&D budget.
As an apple customer, one would hate for apple to drop Samsung for a less reliable company and end up with an xbox 360 on their hands
Not sure an iPhone 360 would fit in my pocket lol.
I know what you're saying but doesn't that put Apple in a vulnerable position. What if in the future Samsung decide to supply their own phones with the latest components first and make Apple wait. If they make more money selling the phones than selling the chips it could happen. I don't know, I was just speculating on why some of the big Japanese companies like Toshiba haven't entered the market to compete with Samsung. They could make a lot of money. Why leave it to the smaller companies like TSMC.
I cant remember seeing anything official along these lines. Sure, they have their spats in court, but Apple knows that Samsung is far and away the best at manufacturing the highly technical parts of its devices, and their manufacturing technology lead continues to grow every year with their ridiculously large R&D budget.
As an apple customer, one would hate for apple to drop Samsung for a less reliable company and end up with an xbox 360 on their hands
I suspect Apple may want to diversify its supplier base a bit. They do seem to have very stringent quality controls though according to pretty much everything I've heard anyway.
It's rather surprising that, even though a given part may be supplied by multiple manufacturers, there isn't a preference or attempts by consumers(or hardcore Apple addicts) to try and get one with the parts from the "good" manufacturer. Excellent quality control.
awesome! anything to move away from the Samesung copiers.