Korean news site MK Business News (via Reuters) is reporting that Samsung will make 75% of the A9 chip for the next iPhone. This matches an earlier detailed prediction by KGI Research, which stated that the balance of the chips would be made by Global Foundry, and is in line with a statement by Samsung which last year confirmed it as a major supplier of the new chip.
The Samsung-fabbed chips will, says the report, be made in the USA …
MK Business News says that Samsung will make the chips in its plant in Austin, Texas. It does, however, refer to the next iPhone as the iPhone 7, when it will almost certainly be the iPhone 6s.
The earlier KGI note suggested that Apple will be diversifying its chip production, with Samsung, TSMC, Global Foundry, Qualcomm and Intel all included in the mix. Samsung is reportedly making all the S1 chips for the first-generation Apple Watch, while TSMC is slated to pick up the S2 chips for the next-generation of Apple’s first wearable.
