A new report today says Samsung Electronics and Globalfoundries are making plans to begin building 14-nanometer mobile chips in small quantities at a New York-based fabrication facility in early 2015. This could set the stage for the companies to team up to build “A9” chips for Apple.
The details come from Taiwanese tech industry publication DigiTimes, which has a questionable track record reporting on future Apple products, but does on occasion accurately share supply chain data. In its latest report on Tuesday, the publication said Samsung and Globalfoundries will begin rolling out 14-nanometer chips from Samsung’s Fab 8 in New York with a capacity of 60,000 wafers a month, using a so-called “low power early” process.
Samsung currently builds processors for Apple at its Austin, Texas fabrication plant.
The report indicates a trial production run will take place later this year, after which Samsung and Globalfoundries are expected to begin producing 14-nanometer chips in small quantities in early 2015. The duo hopes to land deals with Apple and Qualcomm.
While DigiTimes claims that Apple’s “A9” could be based on the 14-nanometer process, that could all change if Intel and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), who are also said to be in the running, get the deal.
Apple’s past chip update schedules indicate that an “A9” processor would make its debut in 2015, in that year’s iPhone and iPad models.
Rumor reports in mid-2013 connected Samsung to Apple’s 2015 “A9” plans, suggesting that Samsung would use a 14-nanometer process for the chips. However, a rumor later in the year alleged that TSMC would get the lion’s share of the production for the chip.
