Industry Expert Blogs
Where will Apple Manufacture the next iPhone Brain?SemiWiki - Daniel NenniJul. 18, 2013 |
There still seems to be a lot of confusion here so let me set the record straight. In regards to the Apple Ax SoC, the Apple iPhone 5s will have Samsung 28nm Silicon. Samsung 28nm is still ramping but Samsung can make enough wafers and eat the yield issues no problem. The Apple iPhone 6 in 2014 will have TSMC 20nm as I reported previously. TSMC 20nm is ahead of schedule so no problem there. Contrary to what was reported (TSMC reaches deal with Apple to supply 20nm, 16nm and 10nm chips, sources claim), the iPhone 6s in 2015 will have Samsung 14nm Silicon. Samsung is a bit ahead of the pack on FinFETs and from what I was told they made a wafer price offer that Apple could not refuse. As I mentioned before, there will be a glut of 16/14nm wafers so pricing will be VERY attractive for the fabless semiconductor industry. Best of luck to all who oppose us fabless people, you will need it.