In an effort to further distance itself from rival Samsung, Apple signed an agreement with TSMC regarding the ongoing production of microprocessors for its smartphones and other devices last summer. On Thursday, Reuters published a new report which suggests that Apple might be rethinking this arrangement, as Samsung is expected to supply a larger proportion of the 14 nanometer smartphone chips than TSMC in the second half of 2015.
In a note issued on Wednesday, KGI Securities analyst Michael Liu warned clients that Apple would be reinstating Samsung as the primary supplier of smartphone chips next year, although he did not reveal his sources. Commercial Times and Economic Daily News followed up on Thursday, reporting that Qualcomm has begun working with Samsung to produce the chips and orders have already been placed.
These reports resulted in a 5.75% drop in TSMC shares on Thursday. After recording its highest quarterly profit just a day earlier, TSMC might have to reevaluate the 20% revenue growth it was expecting for 2014.
Yuanta Securities analyst George Chang attended the TSMC investor conference, and he believes the report is “is still just a lot of speculation. We haven’t even seen the iPhone 6 yet, so it’s too early to say anything about future products.”
