The reason why TSMC did not receive a contract for the production of Snapdragon 875 is clear
As it was revealed this week, the South Korean giant Samsung became the sole supplier of Snapdragon 875 to Qualcomm. Samsung was able to snatch a lucrative contract from TSMC by offering more favorable terms, according to informed sources. How did it happen that the Taiwanese chipmaker, who is entrusted with the release of its chips, Apple itself lost in the fight for the contract?
It turned out that Apple had crossed the road. No, she didn’t poach TSMC, but simply loaded its capacity almost to the full. Now the chip maker is actively churning out the Apple A14 Bionic chip, which is installed in the new iPad and will later become the basis for all devices of the iPhone 12 series. In the future, TSMC will release another 5-nanometer processor for the needs of Apple – A14X.
It is now clear why TSMC did not panic and was not particularly upset that it could not cooperate with Huawei. The Chinese company, although it fell out of the ranks of customers, was by no means the “main violin”. TSMC has managed to establish close cooperation with Apple and this allows it to be confident in the future. And a partnership with a concern from Cupertino promises much greater profits, both financially and in image, than working with Qualcomm. It looks like TSMC didn’t really fight for the right to produce Snapdragon 875.