Chips

Apple hires 100+ former TI engineers for its third Israeli R&D center

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 10, 2013

We've known Apple's been bolstering its in-house chip design with a new research and development (R&D) center planned in the Israeli city of Ra’anana. According to a new report, Apple's third Israeli R&D center is scheduled to go online in the second half of 2013 and will be staffed by some 150 former Texas Instruments employees.

It was reported in December that Apple tapped a pool of former Texas Instruments employees in Israel after the chip maker had announced it was laying off a staggering 1,700 employees as a result of moving its focus away from smartphone and tablet processors and toward embedded applications like in-car computer systems...

Apple rumored to tap Qualcomm’s low-end Snapdragon chip for budget iPhone

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 25, 2013

The less-pricey iPhone rumor just wouldn't die. Today, Forbes reports that the Cupertino, California firm is likely to use Qualcomm's less powerful lower-end Snapdragon processor for the rumored budget iPhone thought to be targeted to price-sensitive shoppers in emerging markets like China, Brazil and elsewhere where carriers rarely subsidize handsets.

The story has it that such a device would not need the same kind of graphics, video and processing power as premium iPhones do and using Qualcomm's integrated solution could enable the company to integrate the CPU, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi on a single chip rather than have three separate chips. As a result, Cook & Co. would be able to minimize costs, a necessity should Apple pursue the rumored $149 price point...

Gartner: Samsung supplants Apple as #1 chip buyer

Ed Sutherland ∙ January 23, 2013

South Korea's Samsung has another reason to crow. After enduring talk that rival Apple would drop its rival for TSMC, demand for Samsung smartphones and tablets made it the largest customer of chips in 2012, replacing the iPhone and iPad maker in the worldwide chip eating challeng, reports said Thursday.

A Gartner report on semiconductor purchases also gives a rare glimpse into how much Apple is spending on chips for its smartphones and tablet devices. According to the researcher, Samsung increased spending on chips nearly double that of the Cupertino firm...

AMD hires ex-Apple and Qualcomm chip experts, looks to move beyond PCs

Cody Lee ∙ January 22, 2013

This is kind of interesting. In an effort to move beyond PCs and expand its market, AMD just hired two high-profile chip experts: Charles Matar of Qualcomm, and Wayne Meretsky, formally of Apple.

The company currently depends on the PC industry for 80% of its profits. And with sales in that business dropping due to rising demand for smartphones and tablets, it's looking to shift gears quickly...

Apple may have ordered ‘very large volume’ of chips from TSMC

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 22, 2013

Morris Chang, Chairman and CEO of the world's largest semiconductor foundry, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), said in a recent earnings call that his company's 20 nanometer process technology will outsell the existing 28 nanometer tech in its first two years. “Enough discussions have taken place, with enough customers who have large requirements (on 20nm), to lead us to believe that the volume will be very large”, he said without specifically mentioning Apple.

Of course, TSMC also makes chips for Qualcomm, Nvidia and other tech giants, but recently rumors have swirled that Apple is about to drop Samsung as a chip supplier and turn to TSMC, which will invest $9 billion this year while spending even more in capital expenditure in 2014 as it moves toward the more advanced 20nm and 16nm process technologies...

Volume production of Apple silicon looms as TSMC’s 2013 wafer shipments triple

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 18, 2013

Following up on talk that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is prepping to manufacture Apple’s A6X processor and whispers of Tim Cook & Co. negotiating a deal with the foundry to make mobile chips for iOS devices on its 20 nanometer process technology, China Times now quotes Chairman and CEO Morris Chang's words that TSMC is close to achieving a hundred percent market share on its 28nm process technology.

But why have TSCM's wafer shipments all of a sudden tripled, allowing it to achieve a virtual monopoly on the 28nm silicon? That's where the Apple link comes into full view...

TSMC contracted to fab a cutting-edge chip for a ‘breakthrough’ Apple device

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 16, 2013

Samsung for the time being remains an exclusive maker of the Apple-designed engine that powers iPhones, iPads and iPods. Apple's chips are being fabbed on Samsung's High-κ metal gate 32 nanometer process at its $14 billion semiconductor plant in Austin, Texas. But not for any much longer.

We've been hearing lots of rumors lately that rival Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the world's largest independent semiconductor foundry, has entered Apple's supply chain with trial production of Apple's A6X processor.

As the iPhone maker is reportedly accelerating plans to make a jump to TSMC for all of its mobile chips, now comes word that the Taiwan foundry will pretty soon start building on its 20 nanometer process technology a next-gen processor for a "breakthrough" Apple device...

Anobit founder on pressures at Apple: everything has to be amazing

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 9, 2013

Apple snapped up Israeli startup Anobit, a fabless designer of flash memory controllers, in December 2011 for a reported $390 million. It was a typical acqui-hire, a talent-related acquisition, that brought Anobit's engineers under Apple's wing to improve the efficiency of flash storage in its products.

For the first time since the transaction, former Anobit CEO Ariel Maislos, who left Apple last month for personal reasons, has shared a few juicy details on what it's like to be working for the man and how Apple goes about its engineering process...

Apple reportedly moves A6X chip production from Samsung to TSMC

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

According to a new report, Apple has tapped Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (or TSMC) to start manufacturing its A6X chip, which it introduced in its 4th gen iPad, with trials expected to begin as early as this quarter.

The move has been a hot topic in the media for several months now, as it will help Apple further reduce its reliance on Samsung. Tensions continue to grow between the two companies, who are involved in patent suits around the globe...

TSMC CEO insists US chip plant has nothing to do with Apple

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 21, 2012

Apple has lately been rumored to have been moving some production lines to the United States amid whispers of a $10 billion silicon manufacturing facility being considered in the country. Various reports mention both New York and Oregon for this project, code-named Azalea.

And because of its reported $10 billion construction cost, there are some who suspect Project Azalea is a chip-making plant for Apple’s products aimed at replacing Samsung. Remember, the Galaxy maker semiconductor arm's $14 billion Austin, Texas facility exclusively churns out Apple-designed mobile chips that serve as the engine for the iPhone and iPad.

The rumor-mill has been adamant that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the world's largest independent semiconductor foundry, will run the upcoming US facility in co-operation with Apple, but now TSMC CEO has issued a somewhat weak denial...

Talk of purported Apple chip plant ‘Project Azalea’ pops up in Oregon

Cody Lee ∙ December 19, 2012

Last week, an interesting report popped up regarding 'Project Azalea,' a mysterious plan for a 3.2 million-square-foot production facility being pitched to New York economic development officials by an unidentified company. Because of its reported $10 billion construction cost, the general consensus is that it's likely a chip-making plant. And rumor has it that it's for Apple's products.

The theory is that the Cupertino company could be behind this Azalea project, along with a major manufacturer like Foxconn or TSMC. It's no secret that Apple is trying to move its mobile chip business away from Samsung, and a new $10B fab plant would definitely help out with that. The question is, where is it going to be built? Because Azalea talk just popped up in Oregon...

Project Azalea: a $10 billion Apple mobile chip plant

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 12, 2012

We've suspected for a while now that Apple's been making moves ultimately aimed at taking its chip contract elsewhere. Clearly Apple ain't interested (any longer than it needs to) in letting Samsung enjoy an early peek at the technological solutions developed for the engine that drives its iPhones and iPads.

Currently, all of Apple's in-house designed A-series processors are being built exclusively by Samsung in its $14 billion chip plant in Austin, Texas.

The iPhone maker was also rumored to be contemplating a switch to Intel's x86 mobile chips for iPads, as outrageous as the very thought of it may seem.

But what if Tim Cook and his newly-minted chief of Technologies and long-time hardware expert Bob Mansfield have a radical solution in mind? A report Wednesday has it that the California firm could be seeking to invest up to ten billion dollars into a dedicated chip fab in New York, presumably in order to take control of its silicon destiny...