Rumor: TSMC, Apple working on 16nm FinFET process for 'A9' chips
A Monday morning report from the Republic of China indicated that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company is in the process of accelerating the rollout of its new 16-nanometer FinFET fabrication process in a possible bid to wrest control of Apple's A9 manufacturing from rival chipmakers.
Apple's A7 SoC is manufactured by Samsung and powers the iPhone 5s, Retina iPad mini and iPad Air.
Source: iFixit
The report, from the Chinese-language Economic Daily News, directly contradicts earlier whispers that Samsung had won Apple's orders for the A9. Samsung's next-generation process moves the needle to 14 nanometers.
TSMC is said to be in the midst of capacity planning that would see the firm churn out some 50,000 wafers each month. It is unclear what wafer size the plant would use in production, though its current 16-nanometer test lines utilize 12-inch wafers.
Apple and TSMC have long worked together to produce smaller parts?-- the Taiwanese company produces the silicon for the iPhone 5s's Touch ID sensors, for instance --?but the production of more important components, like Apple's A-series chips, has been left to Samsung. Tensions between Apple and its South Korean competitor are believed to have given TSMC a boost, however, with the latter reportedly beginning shipments of chips destined for the so-called "iPhone 6" in early July.
The world's other major chip foundries, including Intel and former AMD subsidiary GlobalFoundries, are also thought to be chasing Apple's business. Thanks to its push into custom silicon and the massive popularity of the iPhone and iPad, Apple is now one of the largest fabrication customers on earth.
Apple's A7 SoC is manufactured by Samsung and powers the iPhone 5s, Retina iPad mini and iPad Air.Source: iFixit
The report, from the Chinese-language Economic Daily News, directly contradicts earlier whispers that Samsung had won Apple's orders for the A9. Samsung's next-generation process moves the needle to 14 nanometers.
TSMC is said to be in the midst of capacity planning that would see the firm churn out some 50,000 wafers each month. It is unclear what wafer size the plant would use in production, though its current 16-nanometer test lines utilize 12-inch wafers.
Apple and TSMC have long worked together to produce smaller parts?-- the Taiwanese company produces the silicon for the iPhone 5s's Touch ID sensors, for instance --?but the production of more important components, like Apple's A-series chips, has been left to Samsung. Tensions between Apple and its South Korean competitor are believed to have given TSMC a boost, however, with the latter reportedly beginning shipments of chips destined for the so-called "iPhone 6" in early July.
The world's other major chip foundries, including Intel and former AMD subsidiary GlobalFoundries, are also thought to be chasing Apple's business. Thanks to its push into custom silicon and the massive popularity of the iPhone and iPad, Apple is now one of the largest fabrication customers on earth.
Comments
Is it that difficult to just write "China" or give the specific city? So much fluff and story padding is just juvenile.
I've long thought Apple took something like two years (or more) to make new iOS devices (start to finish), so their product pipeline is 24 months deep. Products exiting this pipeline today entered it back in 2012.
"The Republic of China"...also previously repeatedly called "the Far East"?
Is it that difficult to just write "China" or give the specific city? So much fluff and story padding is just juvenile.
RoC = Taiwan.
People's Republic of China = mainland China
I think the Taiwanese people would take issue with any suggestion they are a part of China.
"The Republic of China"...also previously repeatedly called "the Far East"?
Is it that difficult to just write "China" or give the specific city? So much fluff and story padding is just juvenile.
What are you talking about? The term "the Far East" was not used in this story even once.
Also, I seriously doubt more than a minuscule minority of the readers here would recognize the name of the city where TSMC is headquartered, so that would actually hurt the readability of the article.
What's juvenile is your complaining.
Are you going to argue* with the official self-proclaimed name of the country now?
*Very hard to reason with Honarable Westerner when he only use left side of brain.
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=FinFET
AI just can't win. Several people complained about their standard naming of "sources in the Far East," so they recently switched to "Republic of China" for Taiwan. Of course they were assuming a knowledge of history and political geography among the readership, or maybe it was a matter of "ok, we'll show you, you nitpickers . . . "
Does anyone in the West still use "ROC" instead of "Taiwan"?
Yes, of course they do. That's the name of the country. Has been since 1911. Since 1949, its control has been reduced to just Taiwan (and a few smaller islands like Quemoy and Matsu), but it's still the Republic of China.
Apple is now one of the largest fabrication customers on earth.
God, that has such a nice ring to it! Music to my Apple-fan ears....
I think the Taiwanese people would take issue with any suggestion they are a part of China.
It's part of the official name of Taiwan in both English and Chinese. Some people in Taiwan wants to change that but not all.
"The Republic of China"...also previously repeatedly called "the Far East"?
Is it that difficult to just write "China" or give the specific city? So much fluff and story padding is just juvenile.
Because there are two Chinas. This should be obvious to anyone why a distinction needs to be made. Writing Republic of China is no more verbose than writing South Korea.
And "far east" is more or less fine as well since some of their (prior) sources may not have been Taiwanese ones but Korean or Japanese sources.
For example this story about iPhone 6 shortages in the Taipei Times came via Reuters Tokyo since it also addresses Japanese suppliers:
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/archives/2014/08/24/2003598102/1
It's part of the official name of Taiwan in both English and Chinese. Some people in Taiwan wants to change that but not all.
Given they voted in the KMT it appears that most people don't want to change that. 2016 folks will see if that changes.
I think the Taiwanese people would take issue with any suggestion they are a part of China.
Didn't say they were.
You asked why "China" wasn't used in the article rather than "Republic of China". Certainly would have been less confusing for you if "Taiwan" was used instead of "Republic of China".
Most people associate China with the communist state located on the Asian mainland that refers to itself as the "People's Republic of China", and use Taiwan to refer to the geopolitical state that refers to itself as the "Republic of China".
What are you talking about? The term "the Far East" was not used in this story even once.
Also, I seriously doubt more than a minuscule minority of the readers here would recognize the name of the city where TSMC is headquartered, so that would actually hurt the readability of the article.
What's juvenile is your complaining.
What part of the word "previously" didn't you understand?
AI just can't win. Several people complained about their standard naming of "sources in the Far East," so they recently switched to "Republic of China" for Taiwan. Of course they were assuming a knowledge of history and political geography among the readership, or maybe it was a matter of "ok, we'll show you, you nitpickers . . . "
Does anyone in the West still use "ROC" instead of "Taiwan"?
There's absolutely no reason for any author here to get "cute" with their references. Call it China if it's China, call it Taiwan if it's Taiwan. Right now, it's just sloppy.