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ASE taps into Apple supply chain with iPhone 7 fingerprint sensor, Apple Watch S2 chip orders

Apple's fall of 2016 product lineup has proven to be a major boon for supplier Advanced Semiconductor Engineering, as the Taiwan-based company is reportedly providing key silicon for both the iPhone 7 and Apple Watch Series 2.

Through its subsidiary Universal Scientific Industrial, ASE is said to have landed a contract to be the sole provider of the dual-core S2 chip that powers the second-generation Apple Watch, according to DigiTimes.

In addition, ASE has also landed system-in-package orders for the Wi-Fi, Touch ID fingerprint sensor, and 3D Touch components found in both the newly released iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus.

Tuesday's report also identified Kinsus Interconnect Technology as the main substrate supplier for Apple Watch Series 2, with Nanya PCB accounting for a "small portion."

In recent years, Apple has brought the development of custom silicon largely in-house. Manufacturing of those chips, however, must still be outsourced to suppliers.

Both the Apple Watch Series 2 and iPhone 7 lineup debuted last Friday.



4 Comments

mike1 10 Years · 3437 comments

Wait, weren't all of Apple's suppliers complaining about reduced orders signaling doom for Apple? The complainers were the suppliers losing business. Apple's order's didn't decrease, just distributed differently.

Herbivore2 8 Years · 367 comments

It's too bad that TSMC isn't manufacturing the S2 using InFO on a 10 nm process node. Perhaps they are straining to meet demand for the A10X. 

kevin kee 10 Years · 1289 comments

It's good to know that Apple spread out their suppliers, while most fandroids would tell you that 'but but Apple components are all made by Samsung.' Telling them the truth will just upset them more and calling you 'fanboy delusion' (speaking from experiences). :hushed: