Rumor: Apple planning development center in Taiwan for future iPhones

An alleged internal communications document from Apple was detailed by VR-Zone on Thursday, claiming that the company is currently in the recruiting stage for a new engineering development team in Taiwan. According to the report, the group will work on "the next generation of iPhone product development."

The iPhone maker is said to be seeking experienced and junior-level engineers, as well as personnel for management positions. The company is said to be looking to discreetly hire through word of mouth, rather than formally advertising for the alleged new jobs.

If true, the new team could be related to Apple's apparent agreement with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Currently, Samsung is the sole provider of custom A-series chips to Apple, but it's been reported that the company has inked a deal with TSMC to start building chips for iPhones and iPads starting in 2014.

The same source of Thursday's rumor reported in September 2011 that Apple was investigating USB 3.0 ports for its line of Mac computers. The first Macs with USB 3.0 ports - the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro — were introduced in June 2012.

Though the bulk of its design and development are still done in California, as Apple has pushed in recent ads, the company's efforts have spread out some in recent years. For example, Apple has set up research and development teams in Israel, through its purchase of flash memory maker Anobit Technologies in 2011, as well as Florida, with a chip development center in Orlando and the acquisition of fingerprint technology company AuthenTec in Melbourne.