Qualcomm will move away from TSMC and become one of Samsung’s largest chip clients, once the company starts manufacturing its next generation processors, the Snapdragon 820.
The giant processor company has traditionally employed Taiwan Semiconductor (TSMC) to manufacture its chips, which power a large number of our smartphones and tablets. However, according to a report from Re/code, Qualcomm will be switching suppliers and partnering with Samsung for its next batch of high-end SOCs.
The move is expected to be at least partially motivated by Samsung’s recent investments in production facilities and by the company’s 14nm manufacturing process. Though the recent Snapdragon 810, built in TSMC’s foundries, is largely seen as a powerful 20nm chip, it has also been plagued by overheating issues. A move to Samsung’s plants and more advanced manufacturing may alleviate some of these problems, as the company’s own chip, the Exynos, has never suffered similar issues despite being based on the same design as the 810.
If this move is confirmed, then Samsung seems poised to become an ever bigger player in the chip manufacturing industry. Neowin recently reported that Apple would also be employing Samsung’s plants for the future A9 chip, and now with Qualcomm on board the South Korean company is bound to have a good year ahead.
Source: Re/code
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