Apple And Samsung Join Forces For The iPhone 7

by Ewan Spence - Forbes, Feb. 04, 2015 – 

Following reports at the end of last year that Samsung's manufacturing plant in Austin was working on the early batches of A9 system-on-chips (SoC) for the presumptively named Apple iPhone 7, it appears that the South Korean manufacturer will be the lead manufacturer for most, if not all, of the A9 chips for the next-generation of Tim Cook's smartphone.

One of Samsung's key advantages in the process is its mastery of fabrication at 14nm (reports Re/Code, citing sources familiar with the matter). This allows more transistors to be packed into a smaller space, all while drawing less power. The attractiveness of those benefits for any smartphone should be clear.

Apple has previously worked with Samsung on the internals of various iPhones, but moved away from its arch rival to source a significant percentage of the A8 chips for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus from the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company. It is believed that 70% of the A8 chips came from TSMC, with Samsung providing the balance.

With the iPhone 7 presumably moving out of hand-built test models and starting down the fabrication stage for a September 2015 release, decisions around the companies to handle the components would be expected around this time. While Apple designs the hardware and chips inside its devices, it does rely on third-party manufacturers to meet the order requirements, which is where Samsung's semi-conductor business comes in.

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