Samsung Electronics will restart manufacturing chips for Apple’s new iPhone in 2018, according to a report from The Korea Herald, citing unnamed sources. Samsung was a primary producer of iPhone chips until 2013, when Apple selected Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) as its exclusive chip producer, The Washington Post reports. Back in 2011, Apple filed a lawsuit against Samsung for patent infringement, and the company cut down the number of components it got from its competitor from that time.
According to the same sources, Samsung co-chief executive Kwon Oh-hyun visited Apple headquarters in California in June to discuss iPhone chip production. Back in March, Samsung said it would acquire specialized machines, to produce 7-nanometer processors for the iPhone. The same sources claim Samsung’s involvement in organic light-emitting diodes, an LED technology used in phones is what convinced Apple to put Samsung back on the list of processor manufacturers.
TSMC will still play a role in supplying chips for next year’s iPhones, the sources added. Samsung will share some iPhone orders next year that “have been monopolized by TSMC”. Apple and Samsung did not comment on the matter.
