<p> <i> 16.22 pm </i>

Samsung Group ousted from Apple's A8 chip manufacturing

Apple may abandon Samsung and choose TSMC to produce A8 processor for the next-gen iPhone and iPads.

It seems Apple isn’t satisfied with the production of A-series processor based on the 20-nm process by Samsung Group.

The Cupertino could say goodbye to the Galaxy maker for it. If it happens, the doors will be opened for other partners like TSMC. Apparently, the South Korean group isn’t sufficiently fulfilling 20-nm chips demand, which will be used by Apple in the next iPhone and iPad this year.

No doubt Apple wants to get rid of Samsung deliberately. The duo has been in courtrooms for several years and counting. Although, Samsung has produced A-series processor for Apple, but it’s not a coincidence that the Cupertino based tech giant has formed a strategic partnership with TSMC.

As 2014 has just begun, according to some reports, the Taiwanese company TSMC could start supplying those A8 chipsets. It was reported earlier that TSMC will fulfill about 70% of all demands while the remaining quotient will be covered by Samsung. But that’s something, which has changed.

It appears that the yield of the preliminary testing of A8 chip by Samsung is very low compared to what Apple requires – to have some physiological advantage over rivals – 20-nm process based chipset for future iPhones and iPads.

In the meantime, TSMC may have shown more performance, then the Cupertino would have decided to invest solely on the world’s largest dedicated independent semiconductor foundry, helping the expansion of Apple products on the planet for years.

In addition, TSMC has already demonstrated that they are ready to switch from 20 to 14 nanometers, the size likely to be adopted by the A9 for iPhone 7, probably. The final farewell to Samsung could be accomplished by the middle of 2014 instead of between 2015 and 2016 as previously assumed.

Besides these ergonomics, the A8 chip would be incorporating LTE directly, according to rumors from the East and will be managed by a dedicated processor manufactured by Qualcomm. Apple seems likely to make the iPhone and the iPad compatible with all LTE frequencies on the planet, including even those that will be managed only in the future.</p>