Taiwan Semiconductor Mfg. Co. (TSMC) is said to start a 10nm pilot next month in 12 of its factories in Hsinchu, with the purpose of securing A10 orders for the iPhone 7, expected to be released on late 2016. However, Samsung is set to rival that.
Currently, both Samsung and TSMC will deliver A9 chipsets for Apple's iPhone 6s, which the Korean company was able to win 70% of A9 orders, using 14nm FinFET technology. On the other hand, TSMC will be manufacturing 30% processors built on its 16nm process.
It was said that Samsung solely won 100% of the A9 orders because TSMC failed to produce 14nm chips, but due to Chairman Terry Guo's influence, the latter managed to secure this order ratio.
Now, TSMC allegedly "learned its lesson" and will not take risks with the A10 orders. In fact, the company is said to be on the development of producing 10nm and 7nmn chips that will be "far more efficient that its 16nm processors." TSMC is even aiming to secure 100% of the A10 orders for the iPhone 7.
Further, the Taiwanese company will reportedly start signing up clients for its 10nm chipset by the end of 2015. They will start production of 10nm processors on 2016, and manufacture 7nm chipsets by 2017.
However, Samsung won't just allow TSMC to have the entire share. The Korean company allegedly started renewing its focus on chip manufacturing, and it is expected that they will also compete for the iPhone 7 processors, especially that the perceived "animosity" between the two competing phone manufacturer is cooling down.
On the other side of the story, this would mean that fans could expect Apple to release the iPhone 6s this year, instead of the iPhone 7. If this is the case, iPhone lovers could expect the 6s to include Force Touch sensors as its marquee feature and a redesigned iOS 9 with a big focus on quality.
As for the release date, the iPhone 6s is slated for an August-September timeframe, with the iPhone 7 next year. Apple is yet to make official statements about their upcoming iPhone 6s and iPhone 7. Therefore, these should be taken with a grain of salt.
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