“Kim Ki-nam, president of the Korean electronic giant’s semiconductor business and head of System LSI business, told reporters at Samsung’s headquarters in Seoul that once the company begins to supply Apple with chips using its latest technology, profits ‘will improve positively,’ ZDNet reports. “Sources told ZDNet Korea that Samsung already has a contract in place with Apple to produce the A8’s successor, tentatively named the A9, which will be made using the 14-nanometre process.”
“The Suwon, Korea-based tech giant is one of the two contract makers, the other being Taiwan’s TSMC, for Apple’s A8 processor that goes into the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. The A8 is currently being made using 20-nanometre processes,” ZDNet reports. “Out of the total volume of A8 chips, Samsung is producing around 30 percent, while TSMC is making 70 percent, sources familiar with the matter said.”
“Though Samsung remains the global leader in memory chips, its contract-making division, named System LSI Business, has reported huge losses this year due to lowered volume supplied to Apple,” ZDNet reports. “Apple has been steadily cutting ties with Samsung, one of its biggest suppliers of components in recent years. It cut off display supplies from Samsung back in 2012, and has turned to LG for the main batches.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Hopefully, Apple will continue to reduce orders, eventually cutting Samsung out altogether.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “AlanAudio” for the heads up.]