Samsung to Be Lead Supplier of Next Year's Apple A9 Chips: Report

In a report citing supply sources, Korea Times suggests that the South Korean company will produce APs for the iPhone and iPad devices from next year. It added that "From 2016, the company will supply 80 percent of APs used in Apple devices, and TSMC the remainder."

For those unaware, Samsung was rumoured to be producing A8 chips for the iPhone 6 alongside the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). However, it turned out to be that the Apple A8 SoC was fabricated by TSMC, as revealed by Chipwork's blog.

Further, the report suggests that Samsung will fabricate the rumoured 14nm fabrication process based Apple A9 chips in partnership with GlobalFoundries (GF).

It adds, "Production of the APs will start early next year at Samsung's local factory in Giheung, Gyeonggi Province, and the volume will grow as Samsung plans to use its facilities in Austin, Texas and the GF-owned factory in New York for increased output."

The report quotes a source familiar with the deal, "Apple has designated Samsung as the primary supplier of its next A-series chips powering iOS devices from 2016 as the alliance with GlobalFoundries (GF) enabled Samsung to cut off capacity risk." However, neither company has made any official announcements.

The exact amount of the rumoured deal between Apple and Samsung has not been revealed; though a source points out that "the value of the deal is said to be worth "billions of dollars."

If the report is to be believed, then Samsung might become the chief AP supplier for Apple, followed by TSMC.

The relationship between Apple and Samsung started to improve a bit in August after both the companies (Apple and Samsung) decided to drop a series of patent disputes pending in courts outside the US.