GoKawiilBloomberg yesterday reported that Apple has been in discussion with both Intel and Samsung regarding future production of its device processors.
The move is said to be motivated by Apple seeking to reduce its reliance on Taiwan’s TSMC as its sole supplier of A-series and M-series chips …
Apple has of course purchased both iPhone and Mac processors from each of the companies in the past. For a long time, Apple split its A-series chip production between TSMC and Samsung, and Mac CPUs were off-the-shelf Intel ones.
However, TMSC pulled so far ahead of Samsung that it became the only company able to make the most advanced chips for flagship iPhones, and once Apple made the transition to M-series chips for the Mac, TSMC was again the only fabricator able to produce these.
The talks make sense
The first and most obvious takeout is that it makes absolute sense for Apple to engage in discussions with both Samsung and Intel. The company has always preferred to have at least two competing suppliers for all of its key components in order to negotiate the best price and to guard against supply chain disruption.
Additionally, with Taiwan under prolonged threat from China, there is always the danger that TSMC could fall under Chinese control – or that the chipmaker’s plants would be sabotaged or destroyed. Indeed, it was reported back in 2024 that TSMC and its chip machine supplier ASML have made joint plans to remotely disable the machines in the event of an invasion.
Apple absolutely needs to think about a Plan B for these types of scenario.
We shouldn’t expect too much
While both Intel and Samsung are doing everything they can in an attempt to catch up with TSMC, it’s far from clear that either company can do so.
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