TSMC offers 40nm,32nm,28nm ,Samsung offers NAND ,also smartphone,tablet
Apple, TSMC to expand foundry ties
Mark LaPedus http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-news/4213873/Apple--TSMC-to-expand-foundry-ties#
3/8/2011 6:42 PM EST
SAN JOSE, Calif. – Rumors are running rampant that Apple Inc. and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSMC) are expanding their foundry ties-a possible blow for Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
With little or no fanfare, Apple and TSMC have recently entered into a foundry relationship, sources said. As reported, TSMC will make the A5 dual-core processor on a foundry basis for Apple’s iPad 2.
Apple will use TSMC’s 40-nm process for the A5, according to a source. ‘’Apple will also work with TSMC on 28-nm’’ processes, according to a source.
This could be seen as a setback for Samsung. Samsung is making the A4 processor on a foundry basis for Apple’s original iPad. Samsung is also making the processor for the iPhone. It’s unclear if Samsung will make the A5 for Apple.
Apple itself designed the A4, A5 and processor for the iPhone. The processors are based on ARM's technology.
Apple, according to the source, will use TSMC for three reasons: 1. Samsung competes with the iPhone and iPad; 2. TSMC has the highest yielding 40-nm process in the foundry world; and 3. TSMC has the most 40-nm capacity.
Samsung, Motorola, RIM and a plethora of others are also selling tablet PCs. ''Overall inventories are healthy at the moment, but there are concerns of component overbuild in tablet space,'' according to a new report from VLSI Research.
''This is driven in part by overly optimistic unit growth, especially for non-Apple tablets where there’s a plethora of new devices (we’re tracking more than 200 SKUs). Moreover, as the tablet war shifts into the pricing front, many companies will find it difficult to compete with Apple, which has a significant cost advantage over the competition,'' according to the report. ''While some of these tables will likely gain traction in the market place, many others will not. If the tablet build up turns into a glut late in the year, foundries are likely to suffer, given their aggressive capital expansion plans.''
Still, ''iPad 2 production ramping faster than expected,'' according to a report from FBR. ''Our contacts now see 1Q11 iPad production at 5.5 million units, up from 5.1 million units previously. Importantly, iPad 2 production is now set at about 2 million units, up from about 300,000 units previously, as some key bottlenecks (likely touch panel availability) were addressed in time to meaningfully ramp
March production.''
For 2Q11, ''our contacts now see 7.2 million units of iPad production, up from our prior forecast of 7.0 million units. Importantly, almost all of the 2Q11 production is of iPad 2 devices, meaningfully ahead of the prior iPad 2 production ramp plans,'' according to the report.
''Our contacts expect 45 million iPads produced in 2011. Our contacts continue to expect 45 million iPad builds in calendar 2011, meaningfully ahead of the Street. When looking at the linearity of 1H11 (13 million units) and 2H11 (32 million units) iPad production, it seems Apple is planning on some very large iPad 2 sales volumes in 2H11 in order to achieve its annual target, with even cheaper price points likely necessary in order to achieve these 2H11 volumes,'' according to the report.
http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-news/4213873/Apple--TSMC-to-expand-foundry-ties#
Warren
With little or no fanfare, Apple and TSMC have recently entered into a foundry relationship, sources said. As reported, TSMC will make the A5 dual-core processor on a foundry basis for Apple’s iPad 2.
Apple will use TSMC’s 40-nm process for the A5, according to a source. ‘’Apple will also work with TSMC on 28-nm’’ processes, according to a source.
This could be seen as a setback for Samsung. Samsung is making the A4 processor on a foundry basis for Apple’s original iPad. Samsung is also making the processor for the iPhone. It’s unclear if Samsung will make the A5 for Apple.
Apple itself designed the A4, A5 and processor for the iPhone. The processors are based on ARM's technology.
Apple, according to the source, will use TSMC for three reasons: 1. Samsung competes with the iPhone and iPad; 2. TSMC has the highest yielding 40-nm process in the foundry world; and 3. TSMC has the most 40-nm capacity.
Samsung, Motorola, RIM and a plethora of others are also selling tablet PCs. ''Overall inventories are healthy at the moment, but there are concerns of component overbuild in tablet space,'' according to a new report from VLSI Research.
''This is driven in part by overly optimistic unit growth, especially for non-Apple tablets where there’s a plethora of new devices (we’re tracking more than 200 SKUs). Moreover, as the tablet war shifts into the pricing front, many companies will find it difficult to compete with Apple, which has a significant cost advantage over the competition,'' according to the report. ''While some of these tables will likely gain traction in the market place, many others will not. If the tablet build up turns into a glut late in the year, foundries are likely to suffer, given their aggressive capital expansion plans.''
Still, ''iPad 2 production ramping faster than expected,'' according to a report from FBR. ''Our contacts now see 1Q11 iPad production at 5.5 million units, up from 5.1 million units previously. Importantly, iPad 2 production is now set at about 2 million units, up from about 300,000 units previously, as some key bottlenecks (likely touch panel availability) were addressed in time to meaningfully ramp
March production.''
For 2Q11, ''our contacts now see 7.2 million units of iPad production, up from our prior forecast of 7.0 million units. Importantly, almost all of the 2Q11 production is of iPad 2 devices, meaningfully ahead of the prior iPad 2 production ramp plans,'' according to the report.
''Our contacts expect 45 million iPads produced in 2011. Our contacts continue to expect 45 million iPad builds in calendar 2011, meaningfully ahead of the Street. When looking at the linearity of 1H11 (13 million units) and 2H11 (32 million units) iPad production, it seems Apple is planning on some very large iPad 2 sales volumes in 2H11 in order to achieve its annual target, with even cheaper price points likely necessary in order to achieve these 2H11 volumes,'' according to the report.
http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-news/4213873/Apple--TSMC-to-expand-foundry-ties#
Warren
Well I am thinking that Samsung is seriously disappointed. They seem sincere that they want to succeed in the foundry business but if every potential customer can't get past Samsung being a [potential] competitor then it's going to be a tough road ahead since Samsung competes in a LOT of areas where semiconductors are deployed. Furthermore, reported within these EETimes pages in February Otellini pointed out that the foundry biz could be a rough one over the next few years due to oversupply... and if true then this announcement has got to represent a real bad way to start 2011. I also think it's hilarious that reason #2 for Apple to change horses is 40nm production; in March, 2010 Samsung made its case for better foundry outlook based on its 4xnm manufacturing, and in early 2009 reportedly one over Xilinx also based on its 4xnm roadmap. Possibly all of this may be a manifestation of what Ottellini stated in the February 18 article... that "Foundries make money not on the leading-edge but on the trailing edge, with long running products." Samsung was the right choice, competition or no, to boot-strap a lively new compute platform while the run-on products will do better (economically speaking) with a foundry that keeps cost LOW and does a fine job with trailing edge technology.
台積電獨占富士通微電子訂單
日本整合元件製造大廠（IDM）富士通微電子（Fujitsu Microeletronics）總裁岡田晴基接受媒體訪問時表示，富士通半導體事業將轉向輕晶圓廠（fab-lite）策略方向發展，今後將把45/40奈米及28奈米等先進製程晶片訂單，都交由台積電代工生產。
富士通微電子於2008年由母公司富士通集團切割半導體事業獨立後成立，2009年中就決定走向輕晶圓廠策略方向，在日本半導體產業中，算是很早就決定淡化IDM廠營運模式，並與晶圓代工廠合作開發技術的大型半導體廠。
為了在先進製程上能夠領先同業，富士通微電子不僅委由台積電代工，也深化與台積電的合作，共同開發先進技術。
富士通微電子與台積電目前在45/40奈米及28奈米上進行合作，包括結合富士通微電子在先進高速製程與低耗電設計技術的專長及優勢，以及台積電節能的高效能邏輯、系統單晶片製程。
此外，富士通微電子也加入台積電的開放創新平台（OIP）陣營，不僅在晶圓製造技術上共同開發，也針對先進封裝技術進行合作。日本IDM廠近年來積極進行轉型，台積電除了獲得富士通微電子下單，也陸續取得東芝、瑞薩（Renesas）、索尼等大廠代工訂單，由於訂單多集中在45/40奈米以下的先進製程，且今年下半年就會開始釋出28奈米訂單，因此台積電今年十分重視日本市場的開發。
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