Another rumor has surfaced claiming that Apple is moving production of its A series of processors away from Samsung and over to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (TSMC). According to Chinese-language site TechNews (Google Translation), the newest issue concerns low yields in Samsung's 20mm process for Apple's next generation A8 processor.
Citing unnamed sources, TechNews said that TSMC has had surprising success with its own 20mm manufacturing process, which has been "smoother than anticipated" and the "fastest ever" ramping of manufacturing process.
If true, that's good news for TSMC and bad news for Samsung. It might also be considered good news for Apple, which would be able to pull billions of dollars in business away from its arch rival, which also happens to be the company convicted of copying Apple's patented design and utility patents.
We've been down this rumor road before, however. For the last 12-18 months, various and sundry rumors have said that Apple has or is about to move its chip production to TSMC from Samsung. Despite each and every one of those rumors, however, it's been Samsung that makes what eventually ships in Apple's iOS devices.
To make things more complicated, this same report said that while TSMC is making Apple's A8, both Samsung and TSMC are still competing over the production of the chip after that, theoretically called the A9.
As is often the case with leaks from Apple's supply chain, there is likely a kernel of truth to this one, and that kernel of truth could be that Samsung has had some yield issues. It's the conclusions from those leaks that are the most suspect, as no one in Apple's supply chain has any aspect of Apple's big picture.
Accordingly, take this report with a grain of salt.
[Via International Business Times]