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Samsung reportedly takes early lead in possible three-way battle to make Apple’s A9 processor

A report from DigiTimes claims that Samsung has received orders from Apple for chips made using its new 14nm process, with volume production set to ramp up in the course of next year.

The Samsung Electronics and Globalfoundries team reportedly has landed orders for its 14nm FinFET process from Qualcomm and Apple, with related foundry services to begin in early 2015, according to industry sources in Taiwan …

Samsung has previously partnered with GlobalFoundries for over-flow capacity for either its own chips or Apple chips as needed.

Apple’s 14nm orders are likely to be for the A9 chip expected to be used in next year’s iPhones and iPads. It doesn’t, however, mean that Samsung will produce all of these chips: Intel has been named as a potential supplier for part of the production, and Taiwan’s TSMC is also likely to bid.

It’s worth noting that DigiTimes’ track-record on A-series chip production isn’t exactly stellar: it has consistently claimed over many years that TSMC will be taking over A-series chip production from Samsung – and as of the A7, this hasn’t happened.

We’ll have to wait for analysis of the A8 chip in the iPhone 6 to find out whether this has changed. In the meantime, though, suggesting that Samsung has already received at least some orders for the A9 would be unsurprising.

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Comments

  1. thejuanald - 10 years ago

    Where is everyone who said they’d never use anything to do with Samsung, even after it was pointed out that Samsung has been used for some Apple parts for some time?

    • Robert Nixon - 10 years ago

      They only ever existed in your imagination.

      • thejuanald - 10 years ago

        Just take a look at the comment section of any article that has anything to do with Samsung on this very website.

    • andreww500 - 10 years ago

      I’ve said that before. I won’t buy any standalone Samsung products. But I’m not going to switch from iPhone just because Samsung makes a few parts.

      • thejuanald - 10 years ago

        They make fantastic televisions.

  2. Han Nguyen (@HanS2x) - 10 years ago

    why dont apple just buy AMD(3Billion dollar company, better deal than Beats) and produce their own chips?

    • Han Nguyen (@HanS2x) - 10 years ago

      even buying AMD at 10 Billion is worth it, they dont have to rely on Intel and nvidia for their chips any longer. apple makes 10bil in a quarter, isnt that worth it?

      • Jassi Sikand - 10 years ago

        B/c then Apple couldn’t use Intel/Nvidia for their desktop/laptop chips, and honestly, for PCs, AMD CPUs suck compared to Intel’s for performance – and that’s not an opinion, that’s a fact. And I think that Apple actually gets a better deal from Intel than AMD, which is why they split from AMD in the first place. Plus Apple has never really liked contracting with others to design their chips – the only exception in Intel, and that’s because if Apple introduced it’s A-series chip, then their Macs won’t be able to support Windows, and that’s a rather large market for Mac users. There’s a big percentage of Mac users that dual-boot Windows

      • Han Nguyen (@HanS2x) - 10 years ago

        Well if they buy AMD, they would have the architexture to run Windows. Plus Apple is using AMD Graphics in their Mac Pros. And with the money apple has in reserve, im pretty sure they can invest for deployment and research of better chips for AMD and hiring top teir chip developers. Remember AMD was as good or better that intel in the chip industry 10 years ago with their 64bit processors.

      • Han Nguyen (@HanS2x) - 10 years ago

        and with AMD, they can produce chips for the iphone and mac line, no need to rely on samsung and intel to make their chips any longer.

    • Charlie McPherson - 10 years ago

      AMD’s license to x86 is nontransferable, so if Apple were to buy them they would lose the rights to make x86 based chips. Having a monopoly with Intel at it’s center is bad for everyone…

  3. rlowhit - 10 years ago

    Frenemies…

  4. David Gregory Lee - 10 years ago

    Is it just me, or do you also think Apple is risking a lot by having Sam-dung fab their chips? I mean, they have all the Apple technology right in front of them! They don’t have to steal it; Apple’s giving it to them!

    • thejuanald - 10 years ago

      You do know that Samsung has made parts for Apple for a very long time, right?

      • Ryan Pesso - 10 years ago

        A lot of people get confused. Samsung mass produces parts for Apple. Apple still creates it’s own custom hardware but outsources it to be mass produced. People tend to believe that Apple is using samsungs chips but that’s not really accurate. Technically yes but apple is the company that constructs them.

      • thejuanald - 10 years ago

        Yes, of course.

    • Jassi Sikand - 10 years ago

      And although, yes, they do have access to Apple’s designs, contractually (legally), they are not allowed to use them when Samsung creates their chips (which they don’t anyway – they use Snapdragon)

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Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Ben Lovejoy

Ben Lovejoy is a British technology writer and EU Editor for 9to5Mac. He’s known for his op-eds and diary pieces, exploring his experience of Apple products over time, for a more rounded review. He also writes fiction, with two technothriller novels, a couple of SF shorts and a rom-com!


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