Samsung To Make Future Application Processors For Apple: report
Samsung Electronics has reportedly agreed with Apple to produce application processors (APs) from next year for iPhones and iPads, according to sources from S. Korea. The Korea Times report that from 2016, Samsung will supply 80 percent of APs used in Apple devices, leaving the remaining supply to Taiwanese rival TSMC. Samsung will fabricate ther APs in partnership with GlobalFoundries (GF), the report added.
If correct, the multi-billion deal comes a month after the two companies agreed to drop all patent litigation outside the United States.
Samsung is curently using a 14-nanometer FinFET processing technology, and the collaboration with GF has helped the company lower manugfacturing costs.
Samsung plans to start mass producing the wafers for the chips either at the end of the year or early 2016.
TSMC will soon ramp up production of chips using 16-nnometer FinFET technology.