Qualcomm Said to Be Making LTE Chips for Next iPhone

[Maura]

AppleInsider writes today that Qualcomm is believed to be one of the companies that has been contracted to make 4G LTE chips for Apple’s next iPhone. According to information gleaned by DigiTimes from sources in Apple’s supply chain, Qualcomm will be building its 4G LTE chips at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), and will require roughly 10,000 28-nanometer 12-inch wafers, which would be one-third of TSMC’s 28-nanometer capacity, all for the next iPhone. AppleInsider’s news story includes names and details of other manufacturers who will be using TSMC’s 28-nanometer process to make various parts for the next iPhone for Apple, including Broadcom, said to be supplying Wi-Fi chips, and OmniVision, although it’s not stated what parts OmniVision will be responsible for. AppleInsider adds that TSMC’s 28-nanometer process is also in demand from Nvidia, Texas Instruments, Altera, Xilinx and others, and is therefore likely to be stretched to capacity during the next few months. It seems as if Apple’s next iPhone has priority though.

Source: Qualcomm gearing up to produce 4G LTE chips for Apple's next iPhone