Remember all the talk about Apple’s $7.8 billion deal with Samsung to supply components for the iPhone and iPad? One of the concerns was that Samsung also produces the Galaxy S smartphone and Galaxy Tab tablet. We may now be seeing the rethinking of that marriage of convenience. Samsung reportedly is being passed-over for a Taiwan-based chipmaker to supply Apple’s iPad 2, as well as a rumored iPhone 5.
The Cupertino, Calif. tech giant is said to have signed a deal with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to produce the dual-core A5 chip, which will build upon the previous A4 chip produced by Samsung and part of the original iPad. Samsung also is expected to update its Android-based Galaxy products.
Along with removing the potential for market conflicts, the rumored move to TSMC may have also been prompted by the firm’s lead in producing 40 nanometer processors. If the deal is announced, Samsung’s future relationship with Apple is unclear.
