iPhone Chip Production Headed Back to Samsung in 2018
Samsung will once again help with iPhone chip production following a two-year absence, according to Korea’s The Investor.
Beginning in 2018, both Samsung and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) will once again produce processor chips for Apple’s top-selling product line. This sharing arrangement will follow two years when TSMC was Apple’s exclusive partner for both the iPhone 7 and “iPhone 8” cycle.
Two things lead to the change.
First, “Samsung recently purchased extreme ultra violet lithography machines, the most advanced chip manufacturing equipment, to produce seven-nanometer mobile processors solely for iPhone.”
Second, Samsung’s close working relationship with Apple as the sole OLED provider for this year’s so-called iPhone 8 helped clinched a chip deal.
“The CEO could persuade Apple’s top brass, taking advantage of their close ties on OLED,” said an industry source.
Apple’s expected to unveil the 2017 iPhone lineup in the coming weeks. The first new phones to include Samsung chips should be announced in September 2018.
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