While most of the components crammed inside your iOS devices are built by low-cost Asian manufacturers, its dual-core A5 processor is actually built a little closer to home — at Samsung’s new factory in Austin, Texas.
Reuters reports that Samsung’s new factory has been manufacturing the A5 chip since earlier this year, but production didn’t enter full swing until early December:
The A5 processor – the brain in the iPhone 4S and iPad 2 – is now made in a sprawling 1.6 million square feet factory in Austin owned by Korean electronics giant Samsung Electronics, according to people familiar with the operation.
One of the few major components to be sourced from within the United States, the A5 processor is built by Samsung in a newly constructed $3.6 billion non-memory chip production line that reached full production in early December.
The new factory is reportedly home to 1,100 employees, with nearly all of its production dedicated to Apple’s chips.
There has been speculation that claims Apple is moving its processor production away from Samsung — with which it has recently been embroiled in a lengthy legal spat — to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). However, more recent rumors have suggested that the company will at least stick with Samsung for the next-generation A6 processor, which is apparently already being produced in Texas.
Both companies have declined to comment on the new factory, although a Samsung spokeswoman did confirm that the company has expanded its production to make logic chips.
[via MacRumors]
