As the competition between Apple and Samsung continues to rise, the Cupertino California company has led to Samsung being cut out of the development process of Apple’s next-generation custom chips for the iPhone and iPad according to a new report from The Korea Times. Apple’s so-called “A7” processor will debut in the first half of 2014 and development for the chip is being speculated as underway. Samsung is said to not be a part of the development process as Apple has apparently turned to Taiwan Semiconductor Co. for assistance instead.
Apple has been using custom designs for its iPhone and iPad chips for years but to date the production of those chips has been handled entirely by Samsung. Rumors have continually persisted that Apple plans to cut Samsung out of its chipmaking business but Apple’s latest iPhone and iPad models still feature chips built by the Korean electronics manufacturer.
As of right now, Samsung is said to be planning to grow its business partnerships with Nvidia in an effort to offset any losses that it will experience in the departure of Apple as a customer. The chipmaking division at Samsung is also expected to see growth from the sale of Samsung’s own Galaxy handsets, which use custom Exynos-branded ARM chips. This includes the flagship Galaxy S4 which is set to debut this month.
The recent report is just the latest in a series of claims that Apple is planning to make a shift in the near future to TSMC for its mobile chip production instead of sticking with Samsung. Although such rumors have persisted for years, Samsung continues to benefit from intact partnerships with Apple. It should also be noted that the naming conventions cited in the rumors suggest that Apple’s anticipated 2013 iPhone model, the so-called “iPhone 5S,” will not feature a full-fledged next-generation “A7” processor.
As usual though, the rumors are all speculation and we won’t know until something more concrete is released.
Source: The Korea Times
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