iPhone 7 A10 chip to be made exclusively by TSMC, Samsung semiconductor in trouble



With global semiconductor sales peaking in 2015 and a weak forecast for 2016, the holy grail of chip contracts in 2016 was always going to be the A10 for the iPhone 7.

Samsung was, understandably, going after it in earnest, but a new report out of South Korea claims Samsung rival TSMC has been awarded the exclusive rights to produce
the A10 for the iPhone 7, sending Samsung into a “state of emergency”.

While Samsung and TSMC have previously shared the load of chip production for the iPhone, TSMC reportedly won the exclusive contract due to its more advanced 10 nm process
compared to Samsung’s 14 nm process.

Full-scale production is scheduled to begin in June. Samsung was left reeling back in 2014 when TSMC got the exclusive rights to the A8 chip-production for the iPhone 6,
but successfully managed to split the chip supply contract with TSMC for the 6s and 6s Plus.

Losing half of the contract to TSMC is going to mean very bad things for Samsung’s System LSI division.

While this news is only being reported in South Korea today, Samsung’s semiconductor division apparently knew about the contract being awarded solely to TSMC
back in the latter half of last year and is perhaps why Samsung was forecasting a tough year ahead for semiconductor sales.

This is perhaps also why Samsung has been aggressively courting Qualcomm over the contract to produce the Snapdragon 820.

Considering the performance differences uncovered between the different iPhone 6s models last year, Apple’s choice seems a wise one for the iPhone 7.

Not only is the TSMC process more advanced, iPhone 6s models that used the TSMC A9 were found to run cooler and offer better battery savings – however marginal –
than their Samsung twins.

It may have been the first time iPhone users actually cared about the specs of the latest iPhone.

Given that Apple themselves claimed that performance difference was marginal between the two chips, I'm sure they have other reasons not to go with Samsung for the iPhone 7. This strikes me as more sensationalism rather than anything else.

Mine is a TSMC chip, bought from oyes mid valley

Mine is a TSMC chip, bought from oyes mid valley

Can show your battery stat on usage?

Seems the latest are all TSMC. Maybe in iPhone SE too.

Got both Maxis sets - 6s and 6s plus
Both sets are TSMC

iPhone 6s plus 64gb Maxis TSMC

Any iPhone SE user check the chip?

guys, planning on dropping the bomb on a 6s

1) http://www.lazada.com.my/apple-iphone-6s-1...ld-4275846.html
- this is cheaper by RM100 but it states "no warranty"?

2) http://www.lazada.com.my/apple-iphone-6s-1...et-4670305.html
- this however has the 1 year local manufacturer warranty clause.

what gives

Seriously I don't see any significant difference between my ex 64gb ip6s+ ( Samsung chip) n current 128gb ( TSMC chip)
So guys do not even need to bother over it

Anyone mind to share their battery usage screen on IOS 9.3.1?

is there any difference between those chips ?

Mine..6s+ 64gb iOS 9.3.1

This post has been edited by SSR: Apr 19 2016, 08:13 AM


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I think the discussion here is which chip your iphone is having.

For some users, that mere % consider a big deal already

Apple had infact said a very small % difference exist too among phones with same chip too. They had officially said the differences between Samsung n TSMC is negligible and should not be a concern
Again is user perception thinking one is better than the other

Incredible..what is ur top 3 apps that uses the most battery? Did you music streaming alot?

How about others? Also achieve such incredible battery usage?

iPhone 6s plus 64gb Maxis TSMC smile.gif