About three weeks ago, rumors re-surfaced that Apple has plans to dump Samsung as a chip maker in the midst of the ongoing legal battle between the two phone makers. The rumor mill got over it though, after no official comment was made by any of the involved parties.
Now however, Reuters claims that Taiwan SemiConductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has begun trial manufacturing next-gen processing chips for Apple’s iPad and iPhone, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Samsung has long been the only manufacturer to build processing chips for Apple, and the two have shared a relatively symbiotic relationship for quite some time. Apple is Samsung’s biggest customer, and Samsung hooks up Apple with the A5 chips, as well as DRAM chips and LCDs. But the relationship has soured during this gruesome copycat war, possibly prompting Apple to look elsewhere.
“TSMC has got all the authorization and details ready. Whether Apple puts in a formal order will depend on the yield rate,” said the unnamed Reuters source.