Posted by difenbaker
Samsung's set to make Apple's next chip
Updated 11:10 2 Oct 2014
by Sean Keach
New reports suggest Samsung's raring to go with the production of Apple's next smartphone chip.
According to ZDNet, Kim Ki-nam, president of Samsung's semiconductor business, says profits 'will improve positively' once the firm begins making the chips.
It's expected that the Korean firm will kick-off manufacturing proceedings at the end of the year.
Interestingly, the processors this time around will be 14nm, an improvement over the 20nm A8 chips currently in the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.
Samsung's not new to making Apple chips, with 30% of the current output made by the firm. The remaining 70% is built by TSMC, a Taiwanese company. The A8 production was a reduction in business for Samsung however, as it was solely responsible for the entire flow of A7 chips that appeared in the iPhone 5S.
The report claims that Samsung has already written up a contract with Apple to create the A9 chip in advance of the next iPhone iteration.
Although Apple's not yet confirmed the iPhone 6 follow-up, it's likely we'll see an iterative improvement like the iPhone 5S or iPhone 4S, rather than an iPhone 7.
We're expecting somewhere between July and September 2015 for the next Apple handset launch.
http://www.t3.com/news/samsungs-set-to-make-apples-next-chip#null
cheers!