According to a report out of China that was published today, TSMC and Samsung both have completed trial production runs of the Apple A9 chipset, which will drive the next iteration of the iPhone. As it turns out, TSMC had a higher yield than Samsung and also had the lower production costs between the pair. Every year the rumors bounce back and forth over which of the two companies will produce the lion's share of Apple's Ax chip. Last year TSMC was responsible for the production of each and every A8 chip that found its way inside the Apple iPhone 6 and Apple iPhone 6 Plus.
Back in April, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that TSMC will end up with 30% of the A9 business from Apple, but the results of the trial production could change things. In addition, the report adds that there was no difference in the performance of TSMC's chips produced using the 16nm process, and Samsung's chips produced using the 14nm process.
Based on the result of the trial runs, TSMC will now start mass production of the A9 this month. It is unclear whether Samsung is still waiting for a nod from Apple to begin production of its own A9, or if Apple will now go with TSMC as its exclusive provider of the chip.
