“Along with being one of the world’s biggest consumer electronics makers, retailers and digital content sellers, Apple is now a top-tier chip developer, as judged by the estimated dollar value of all the chips it ships in a given year,” Eric Jhonsa writes for TheStreet. “This fact tends to get swept under the rug, since all of the chips Apple creates are used in its own hardware rather than sold to third parties.”
“But all the same, Apple’s prodigious chip work has not only helped the company lower its costs, but also aided strategic objectives such as improving performance and battery life, reducing device size and enabling novel features. A recent report points to one more instance in which Apple’s chip expertise is proving to be of strategic value,” Jhonsa writes. “So might a new hire, though the book remains to be written here.”
“On Friday afternoon, Bloomberg reported that Apple is developing a processor for its consumer hardware that would be ‘devoted specifically to AI-related tasks’ such as face and speech recognition. It added that Apple “has tested prototypes of future iPhones with the chip,” known within the company as the Neural Engine,” Jhonsa writes. “Separately, analyst Neil Shah observed (courtesy of a LinkedIn post) that Apple has hired Esin Terzioglu, a Qualcomm exec who oversaw the chipmaker’s central engineering organization. The hire has fueled fresh speculation that Apple, now in the midst of a messy legal dispute with Qualcomm, wants to develop a system-on-chip (SoC) that pairs a baseband modem (currently obtained from Qualcomm and Intel with an A-series app processor.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple has been a top-tier chip developer for many years now. See Apple’s 64-bit A7 (introduced on September 20, 2013), which demolished and disheartened the so-called competition, for one stark example (actually, Apple A-series SoCs have always been superior to the off-the-shelf processors used by the iPhone knockoff outfits).
SEE ALSO:
One year after Apple’s 64-bit A7, Nvidia announces first 64-bit processor for Android – August 12, 2014
Why Apple’s dazzling 64-bit A7 SoC demolishes the competition – April 17, 2014
Qualcomm insider: Apple’s 64-bit A7 chip set off a panic, it ‘hit us in the gut’ – December 16, 2013
iPhone, iPad also-rans struggle to realize Apple’s 64-bit mobile computing achievement – November 22, 2013
Apple’s 64-bit ARM business on track to replicate now-hapless Intel’s x86 model – November 19, 2013
Samsung won’t have an answer for Apple’s revolutionary 64-bit A7 processor anytime soon – November 7, 2013
Apple’s 64-bit iPad Air benchmarks are insane – October 30, 2013
Apple’s revolutionary 64-bit iPhone 5s’ graphics are insane; competitors blown away (with benchmarks) – October 28, 2013
Qualcomm exec who dissed Apple’s 64-bit A7 chip as ‘marketing gimmick’ quietly reassigned, removed from company website – October 25, 2013
Apple’s revolutionary 64-bit iPhone 5s is world’s fastest smartphone; smokes Samsung’s plastic Galaxy S4 – October 20, 2013
iPhone 5s, the world’s first and only 64-bit smartphone, leaves 32-bit antique dealers sucking Apple’s fumes – October 18, 2013
Apple’s revolutionary 64-bit iPhone 5s breaks records to become ‘fastest phone ever tested’ – October 17, 2013
Apple’s astonishing 64-bit A7 leaves Android iPhone wannabes in the dust – October 16, 2013
Canonical founder: Apple’s 64-bit A7 chip to shows very clear intent to converge iPhone and MacBook Air – October 11, 2013
Frax app sees 90 percent performance boost on Apple’s 64-bit A7-powered iPhone 5s – October 10, 2013
Qualcomm backpedals from exec’s ‘marketing gimmick’ comment about Apple’s 64-bit iPhone 5s – October 9, 2013
Apple’s 64-bit A7 already powering advanced new audio, video features in apps and games – October 4, 2013
Outclassed, 32-bit antique dealer Qualcomm calls Apple’s 64-bit A7 chip a ‘marketing gimmick’ – October 3, 2013
Apple takes the high-end with their 64-bit A7; leaves rivals to scrap for survival in low-end – October 2, 2013
Apple’s 64-bit A7 is no gimmick: New iPhone 5s offers major performance leap – September 25, 2013
Ars Technica: Apple’s Touch ID and 64-bit A7 are deceptively large advances in the iPhone’s evolution – September 24, 2013
Apple iPhone 5s reviews are universally positive, many crown iPhone 5s the best smartphone – September 19, 2013
Engadget reviews Apple iPhone 5c: A breath of fresh air that will be wildly popular this holiday season – September 18, 2013
Apple’s 64-bit iPhone 5s is by far the fastest smartphone in the world – September 18, 2013
John Gruber reviews Apple iPhone 5s: ‘This is what innovation, real innovation, looks like’ – September 18, 2013
AnandTech reviews iPhone 5s: Apple’s 64-bit A7 is seriously impressive – September 18, 2013
TechCrunch reviews Apple iPhone 5s: The best smartphone available – September 18, 2013
USA Today’s Baig reviews Apple iPhone 5s: ‘Makes the best smartphone even better’ – September 18, 2013
Mossberg reviews Apple iPhone 5s: ‘The best smartphone on the market’ – September 18, 2013
Pairing a baseband modem and an A-series CPU would work very nicely in an Apple Watch. Or enable other tiny Internet of things, things.
Apple doesn’t make chips. Apple designs chips and outsources the manufacturing. As we all know, this has resulted in Apple teaching its suppliers its secrets. Look at Samsung. Happens to every company that thinks it can save money by outsourcing to the max. They create their own competition because they can’t keep a lid on their IP. Especially in countries whose culture is rooted deeply in stealing the inventions of others.
thank you very much for this information
plz what the relation between competitive advantages and TQM?
http://www.ju.edu.jo