tsmc
Latest
A6 processors being built now at TSMC
A few weeks ago, we learned that Apple would likely abandon Samsung and turn to Taiwanese company TSMC for production of the A6 processor expected to power 2012's iDevices. According to Reuters, Apple has indeed begun "trial manufacturing" of the A6 processor at TSMC. If the company is able to crank out A6 chips quickly enough and with a low enough defect rate, Apple may select TSMC as the sole manufacturer of the A6 chip. Currently, Samsung is the only manufacturer of the A5 chip that powers the iPad 2. The same chip will likely power the iPhone 5 and the next-gen iPod touch (if there is one). Samsung stands to lose a great deal of money if Apple turns to TSMC for production of the A6 chip that's likely to power the iPad 3 and iPhone 6. Samsung and Apple have had a falling-out over the past several months over Apple's allegations that Samsung has willfully copied the iPhone's design. Aside from that, the two companies are also competitors in the mobile space, so from Apple's perspective it may not make sense to have one of its competitors manufacturing the silicon brains powering its mobile devices.
Intel hints at option of custom chip foundry for big customers
Reuters is reporting that Intel "wouldn't blink" if given the chance to make custom chips for Apple's devices, like the iPhone and iPad. At an investor event in London on Thursday, Chief Financial Officer Stacy Smith told journalists that "there are certain customers that would be interesting to us and certain customers that wouldn't." Apple, unsurprisingly, is one of the first type of customer. Currently the A4 and A5 chips found in iPhones and iPads are manufactured by Samsung, but reports have hinted that Apple may be moving away from Samsung and jumping to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd (TSMC) on a foundry basis. Given that Apple's A5 chip makes up a large portion of the $7.8 billion components contract Apple has with Samsung, it's no wonder that Intel would want to be a foundry chip maker for the Cupertino company. As Smith told reporters, "If Apple or Sony came to us and said 'I want to do a product that involves your IA (Intel architecture) core and put some of my IP around it', I wouldn't blink. That would be fantastic business for us." She did also say that Intel would have to put more thought into considering being a foundry for custom chips that didn't involve an Intel architecture core: "Then you get into the middle ground of 'I don't want it to be a IA core, I want it to be my own custom-designed core,' and then you are only getting the manufacturing margin, (and) that would be a much more in-depth discussion and analysis." [via MacRumors]
Apple selects Taiwan's TSMC to produce its A5 chip
Apple is reported to have inked a deal with Taiwanese chip manufacturer TSMC to produce the A5 dual-core chip for the iPad 2, in a substantial blow to former producer Samsung. TSMC was apparently chosen over Samsung because tests showed it was consistently producing the chips more efficiently at 40 nanometers than was Samsung at 45 nanometers. It had the most capacity and highest yields in each batch. There are now suggestions that the deal between Apple and TSMC could stretch into the future, with the Taiwanese company producing the next generation of 28 nanometer quad-core chips. Samsung made the A4 chip in the original iPad along with the processor for the iPhone, but as a competitor producing the Galaxy S and Galaxy Tab, it's probably in Apple's interests to move away from Samsung if Apple feared the company would give production priority to its own devices in the future. Apple still depends on Samsung for the majority of the flash memory it uses in iPads, iPhones and iPods, but it has switched manufacturing partners in the past when it sees a commercial or technological advantage. [via Electronista]
ARM and TSMC team up for tinier 20nm Cortex SOCs
It's no secret that ARM ideas are powering much of the mobile revolution these days, but the company doesn't print its own systems-on-a-chip, that duty gets outsourced to silicon foundries -- like TSMC, who just got all buddy-buddy with the firm to transition future smartphone chips to the 28nm and obscenely tiny 20nm high-k metal gate processes. (We're not sure what this means for GlobalFoundries, who had a similar deal earlier this year.) As per usual with a die size reduction, ARM chips will see higher speed and have decreased power consumption, but since 20nm is (relatively) unexplored territory it could be years before chips hit the market. PR after the break, or hit the more coverage link for further explanation by an ARM VP of Marketing.
TSMC begins construction of new $9.3b foundry, wants to sate our constant hunger for chips
TSMC might not necessarily be a household name, but the product of its labors tends to be all over home electronics. Aiming to keep that trend going, the Taiwanese chipmaker has just broken ground on its third 300mm wafer plant, located in Taichung's Central Taiwan Science Park. The new Fab 15 will have a capacity of over 100,000 wafers per month -- earning it the prestige of being described as a Gigafab -- and once operational it'll create 8,000 new skilled jobs in the area. Semiconductors built there will also be suitably modern, with 40nm and 28nm production facilities being installed, and lest you worry about such trivial things as the environment, TSMC says it's doing a few things to minimize the foundry's energy usage and greenhouse gas emission. Then again, if you're going to spend nearly $10 billion on something, would you expect anything less?
AMD announces GLOBALFOUNDRIES spin-off, forgets to name it something awesome
AMD's finally dumped its fabrication facilities and technology onto a new spin-off brand, as expected. ATIC (Advanced Technology Investment Company) is on board as well, and the newly-formed GLOBALFOUNDRIES has $6 billion in investments to start out with, along with 2,800 employees. GLOBALFOUNDRIES will be primarily be building chips for AMD, just like usual, but will also be open to other gigs as a 3rd party chip builder -- its main rival TSMC just scored a deal with Intel to produce Atom chips on the cheap, a first for Intel who usually keeps production and processes in-house. First up for the new company? Churning out a 32nm process. We like the sound of that.
iPhone nano now rumored for June, Unicorn delayed again until September
Ready for more iPhone nano rumors? Good, because apparently the Chinese trade paper Economic Daily News is now reporting that Taiwan Semiconductor Company (TSMC) will be handling chip manufacturing for a low-cost device being referred to as... you guessed it: the iPhone nano. While the paper has a fairly good reputation, it is filtered through the lens of DigiTimes on our end, so as usual, take it with the required grain of salt. Still, the source is calling a June launch of the handset on the heels of an order for the components in March. The time frame is reasonable enough, and if history is any lesson here, Apple loves to intro iPhones in the Summer. Given that China has yet to see a deal for the iPhone proper, and a lower-cost entry may be perfectly tuned for vast Asian markets, the nano could gather in a whole new fold of users (and the smaller screen would be less of an issue given the need for character recognition). That theory falls in line with statements from analysts, though as always, putting too much stock in any of this speculation could be hazardous to your health. Just ask Steve Jobs.[Via AppleInsider]
HDMI-equipped Xbox 360 Premiums still carry 90nm chips
Well it appears that despite all of our wishing, hoping, and positive-thinking exercises, Microsoft has failed to deliver on a small dream of ours, namely, 65nm chips for the new HDMI-rocking Xbox 360 Premiums. Despite signs pointing otherwise, new photos show that this batch of systems continue to carry the Zephyr motherboard layout, which uses the older, hotter 90nm chips, though the boys in Redmond have addressed the heat issue a little bit with the addition of a second "daughter" heatsink attached to the CPU by heatpipe. The new 65nm "Falcon" boards -- which chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) confirmed are in production -- are still on their way according to the rumor mill, slated for release sometime this Fall. Interestingly, Microsoft and TSMC have just laid plans to produce the Xbox's graphics-memory subsystem using the chip manufacturer's 90nm embedded DRAM spec. We won't speculate on when we'll start seeing that addition appear, however.
