Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) reportedly had to fight to secure the A10 chip orders for the iPhone 7, but whatever it had to do to get there has clearly paid off!
That’s based on the company’s new 2016 revenue forecast, which has just been ramped up based on new profit and sales records being reached in the year’s third quarter — largely thanks to the success of Apple’s next-gen iPhone.
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TSMC doesn’t disclose details of customer orders, although it said on Thursday that it now expects revenue growth to be 11-12 percent, rather than the previous estimate of a 5-10 percent increase.
The company’s Q3 revenue jumped 23 percent to hit T$260.4 billion, representing a new quarterly record and considerably more than the company predicted back in July.
Interestingly, a report from Taiwan-based Fubon Research claims that TSMC is the sole maker of the A10 processor used in the iPhone 7, as well as the main foundry source for chips in the smartphone. This is different to last year, where TSMC shared Apple chip orders with Samsung.
Previously, the war between both companies as to who would win Apple’s orders has even lead to a lawsuit, as a former TSMC employee was charged with leaking trade secrets to Samsung.
The news about TSMC’s success adds another piece of evidence to the idea that the iPhone 7 may turn out to be a much more successful phone than some thought it would be. A report from September claimed that Apple has upped orders for the handset by an impressive 10 percent.
How much iPhone 7 demand is helped by Samsung’s disastrous Note 7 debacle remains to be seen.
Source: Reuters
