Forbes: No PA Semi chip in upcoming iPhone

Forbes doesn’t think we’ll see an Apple-branded processor in the upcoming iPhone.  It is just "too soon" according to a variety of analysts they spoke with on the matter.

..turning that design into a custom design typically takes hundreds of millions of dollars and two years worth of work, says Forward Concepts President Will Strauss. Other analysts figure it could take another five to nine months for any product developed by Apple’s team to be ready.

What’s Apple’s next move?  We’re in full agreement with…

Instead, mobile industry analysts say Apple will most likely turn to a faster version of the application processor it now buys from Samsung if it opts for a speedier processor for the iPhone.

Such a shift could speed up the thousands of third-party applications already distributed for the iPhone via Apple’s App Store, some of which tax the iPhone’s current processor. It would also better position the iPhone to compete against the Palm Pre, which will go on sale June 6 and boasts Texas Instrument’s OMAP3430 mobile processor.

We’ve detailed, on a number of occasions, the ARM Cortex A8-based Samsung S5PC100 which is Samsung’s answer to the TI OMAP3430 Processor, the brains of the Palm Pre.  This would enable the iPhone to leapfrog the Pre’s computing power.