Samsung To Manufacture Apple’s A9 using 14nm processing – The A9 To Be 20% Faster And 35% More Efficient

infopc | October 2, 2014 | Technology | No Comments

Samsung To Manufacture Apple’s A9 using 14nm processing – The A9 To Be 20% Faster And 35% More Efficient

A month has barely passed since Apple debuted it’s A8 processor on the
iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. The processor is being touted by Apple to
have several upgrades and advantages over it’s previous SoC. Starting
with the manufacturing process, the A8 is the one of the first to come
manufactured using the 20nm process. And according to Samsung’s head of
semiconductor business, plans are already in motion for the A9 – which
will be successor to the A8.

Samsung To Start Manufacturing Apple’s A9 Using 14nm Process By Year’s End – Expects Increased Profits

The announcement came as a response to the manufacturing giant’s
decreasing profits in the semiconductor market. Cupertino’s Apple has
been steadily distancing itself from the Korean manufacturing and
turning to other manufacturers for it’s needs.

After pursuing LG rather than Samsung for the display supplies in
2012, Apple has also been reducing it’s dependancy on Samsung for
supplies of the A8 for it’s iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and perhaps even the
iPad. 30% of Apple’s total A8 demand was fulfilled by Samsung this
season, with the burden of the share falling on TSMC – which is also the
world’s largest contract chip maker.

Samsung however aims to strike back and claims that Apple’s next
processors manufactured using 14 nm FinFet will boast several
improvements in features. Not only will the SoC’s have a 15% reduced
size when compared to their 20nm counterparts but they will also be 20%
more powerful and 35% more power efficient.

Samsung’s weak position in the semi-conductor arena is also made
worse with it’s struggling Exynos line of processors. While the Exynoss
series come with solid specifications, they still haven’t seen mass
market adoptions. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon still leads the pack, with a
presence in almost every Android device.
With Apple’s distancing efforts in place and Samsung’s claimed advanced process, only time will tell who comes out on top.