In the past, the Apple iPhone chipsets were produced in Korea and China but that might change. A new report revealed that the new A5 chip which powers the iPhone 4S and iPad 2 is now made in Austin, Texas(United States).
The A5 processor is built by Samsung in a newly constructed $3.6 billion factory that has the size of nine football fields(1.6 million square feet). The reports says that Samsung began supplying the A5 processors to Apple this year from the new Austin plant which has about 1,100 employees.
The 120 square millimeter A5 chip is twice as fast as its predecessor, the A4, which is also made by Samsung. The A5 uses technology licensed from Britain’s ARM Holdings, is designed by Apple in California.
Apple relies on its main contract manufacturer, Foxconn, to assemble the iPhone, mainly in its factories in China and Taiwan.
While Apple is one of Samsung’s largest customers, both giants are at war in a legal battle that involves patent infringement in multiple products across multiple countries around the world.
[Source]– Reuters
