Apple has been using the likes of Samsung and TSMC to make its A series chips for the iPhone and iPad, but one more partner can’t hurt, right? The folks of Barron looked into the firm Globalfoundries and discovered that they were expanding their 14 nm production for unknown reason.
They have been recently linked with Apple’s A9 chip and they may just be one of the new partners. It’s true that the selection process is though because you have to offer good yields and a big number of chips to quality, which giants like Sammy and TSMC both comply with. Globalfoundries can only rely on its factory in Malta to make 14 nm chips and at its best that would make 40.000 silicon wafers per month.
This firm is own Abu Dhabi financial entities and if need be, I’m sure they can be expanded. While other companies are dreaming of 10 nm and 7 nm chipsets, like Samsung does, Intel will argue that they should follow Moore’s law more closely and Apple will closely be watching chip makers to pick the best one. Just a quick mention here: Samsung is able to produce 30k to 40k wafers per month, so Globalfoundries is a solid alternative.
via barrons.com
