“The A5 processor – the brain in the iPhone 4S and iPad 2 – is now made in a sprawling 1.6 million square feet factory in Austin owned by Korean electronics giant Samsung Electronics, according to people familiar with the operation,” Poornima Gupta reports for Reuters. “One of the few major components to be sourced from within the United States, the A5 processor is built by Samsung in a newly constructed $3.6 billion non-memory chip production line that reached full production in early December.”
“One of the few major components to be sourced from within the United States, the A5 processor is built by Samsung in a newly constructed $3.6 billion non-memory chip production line that reached full production in early December,” Gupta reports. “Nearly all of the output of the non-memory chip production from the factory – which is the size of about nine football fields – is dedicated to producing Apple chips, one of the people said.”
“The powerful A5 processor, which uses technology licensed from Britain’s ARM Holdings, is designed by Apple in California,” Gupta reports. “The A5 chip debuted in Apple’s iPad 2 in March and now also powers the new iPhone 4S. The 120 square millimeter chip is twice as fast as its predecessor, the A4… Samsung has added about 1,100 jobs to support the new non-memory chip production in the factory, which produces 40,000 silicon wafers every month, a Samsung spokeswoman said… Austin is also home to an Apple customer call center that deals with customer[s]… in North America, Apple’s biggest market. The Cupertino company employs thousands in that facility, who deal with calls ranging from complaints to support.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]
Well aren’t we the new Little China?
And long live Hitch.
He finally got his last question answered….
Wouldn’t it be a bitch,
for poor ‘ole Hitch
if his anti-God sentiments he could switch!
No tariffs, pay 3 employees to run all the robots, corporate tax write-off/incentive, and all the profits go back to Korea an Britain. What does this do for USA?
Created shovel ready jobs for the people who built the facility…
And expanded the tax base.
Would it be better if they hadn’t built here, James?
no, I’m just wondering where all the great us chip makers are. I’m grateful at least some people get to work at minimum wage, pay their taxes, and go home to houses that are worth less than their mortgage whilst Sansung execs are raking in record profits.
And every time you shop at a chain store or eat in a chain restaurant, the majority of the profit is siphoned off from your community.
“Samsung has added about 1,100 jobs…”
Yeah, that’s 3.
Uh, from the story (there are a few more than 3 employees…):
Samsung has added about 1,100 jobs to support the new non-memory chip production in the factory….
The rest of Samsung’s total 2,400 employees in Austin work in its NAND flash memory factory by the logic chip factory, she added….
Samsung’s factory is the largest foreign investment in Texas with a total investment of about $9 billion, according to Austin Chamber of Commerce.
Your reply is missing the requisite number of “non-memory chip production” inclusions.
I sure hope Apple puts that A5 chip into the next iPod Touch. I had figured there was an A5 chip shortage so Apple didn’t have enough to go around since iPhone and iPad demand would be high. Now it’s likely that both the iPod Touch and AppleTV will be able to benefit from the A5’s processing power.
A higher quantity of A5’s produced should help lower production costs, as well. The A5 chip will likely be Apple’s mobile workhorse processor for at least another year. This is some of the most interesting news I’ve heard as Apple gets squarely into the processor business. This should definitely help protect Apple from rival device makers going forward.
I can’t believe that Samsung open a brand new production line still in 45nm just on the jump where every other chip company start their 28 nm production.
So I expect they start the mass production of the next generation A6, which will be perfect on time with a new iPad 3 launch around march. And as soon as the iPad 3 change to the new chip, there will be enough A5 left for iPod touch and AppleTV.
But it is also likely, that the A6 for iPad goes quadcore, and bad chips with at least 2 functional cores find directly the way into the iPod touch and AppleTV. The CPU performance will be close to the A5 chip, but power consumption should be lower, and GPU performance could be above the iPhone 4S, if Apple jump to the new PowerVR 6 Core.
This is the best news I’ve heard all week.made in America is a wonderful thing.
Yeah, Designed and “Made” in America but “owned” by unscrupulous Koreans. Baby steps… F*ck Samsung!
That’s designed in England, not the US. ARM are based near Bristol, the port from which sailed John Cabot, the first modern European to land on the American mainland. Unlike Columbus, who actually landed in the Caribbean, thinking he was near India. Loser.
Good thing that Samdung gets all the know how for the advanced chips so they can use in their iPhone knock offs.
*BONGGK*
Hey, you cracked the Liberty Bell!
I’d rather see Apple Inc build their processors in house in California. That would be something wonderful.
Right, good luck with that one. If you could possibly get past the environmental impact statement challenges, there would be some environmental, legal or archaeological challenge to building a new plant, or endless zoning and NIMBY lawsuits if you tried to put it into an existing building. I live here in California, but the state is trying to commit economic suicide. Please don’t reward the idiots in Sacramento by investing here.
The sad part of this all is that Samsung has access to Apple engineering information and product prototype designs… Samsung sucks!
I’ve driven past that factory several times and it seems to run 24/7, even on Holidays. It’s maxed out.
Gov Brown is just a walking zombie who thinks people will build business here because ‘It is beautiful here.’ I remember a statement quoted like that from him in the last month or two in the LA Times.
The Governor doesn’t look at what is really happening with a view over time. Joe Vranich does know and you can too.
http://thebusinessrelocationcoach.blogspot.com/
He figures say it costs 40% more to do biz in California than other states. About 25 businesses per month were leaving or expanding outside California in the first 6 months of 2011. That about says it all.
My latest startup is not going in CA where I live, but in Tennessee.
Living in Texas, it’s cool seeing Apple manufacture stuff in Dell’s back yard 😀