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.
