Adding to the string of rumors is a report from Taiwan’s Commercial Times saying that TSMC will soon begin making microchips for Apple. The report also claims that Apple is beginning to reduce manufacturing contracts with its fierce South Korean rival, Samsung. According to the financial newspaper, TSMC has been contacted by Apple to manufacture the A6X chip for the Cupertino-based technology giant’s iPad tablet, with trial production set to commence in Q1 this year.
“The move is the latest in a strings of efforts by Apple to switch mass manufacturing contracts away from Samsung,” it said. This, of course, isn’t new. Rumors of TSMC working on Apple’s chips have already been in the headlines since last year. There was even a report that Apple reportedly offered TSMC $1 billion to become its primary chip supplier. Just recently, we also heard that the presumed partnership will kick off earlier than expected and that a factory in the U.S. called Project Azalea is rumored to be one of TSMCs factories in the U.S. Apple has declined to comment on the report.