Published in PC Hardware

GloFo to build Apple chips?

by on13 November 2013



At Fab 8 in New York

An interesting rumour is coming out of New York State. Albany Times Union is reporting that Apple could build next generation A-series SoCs in

Globalfoundries’ Fab 8 in Malta. Although the Albany Times Union is not exactly a tech outlet, it has some pretty good sources on the ground and it broke quite a few GloFo related stories in the past. According to the report, a small team of Samsung engineers is about to visit Fab 8 and share their experiences with Globalfoundries engineers. The move would practically provide Apple with another source of application processors for iPads and iPhones. It was rumoured that TSMC would get the job and that Apple would ditch Samsung altogether, but that does not seem to be the case.

Under the plan Samsung would play some sort of role at Fab 8 and it would also use the new Globalfoundries Technology Development Centre, currently under construction. The facility would apparently be used either in a customer role, or in some sort of partnership between the two chipmakers.

It’s still unclear whether Apple would be the direct customer, buying chips from Globalfoundries, or whether Samsung would effectively lease some Glofo facilities needed for the project. In any case it is a very interesting turn of events.

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