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The Apple A8 'fab' enigma: Is it TSMC, Samsung or both?

The PR battle between Samsung and TSMC is going into high gear over who is making Apple's next-gen processor.

Brooke Crothers Former CNET contributor
Brooke Crothers writes about mobile computer systems, including laptops, tablets, smartphones: how they define the computing experience and the hardware that makes them tick. He has served as an editor at large at CNET News and a contributing reporter to The New York Times' Bits and Technology sections. His interest in things small began when living in Tokyo in a very small apartment for a very long time.
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Brooke Crothers

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Samsung made the A7 processor. Who's making the A8? Apple

One thing is certain about Apple's next-gen processor. Both Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Samsung claim they're making it.

On Monday, Samsung laid claim to its participation, according to a report from ZDNet Korea.

Samsung has signed a "foundry" agreement with Apple for A8 production, the report said.

But wait. Last week, we heard that TSMC had the A8 in the bag.

Wait again. Earlier this month, a chip industry specialist told CNET that Samsung was still very involved making chips for Apple, though he didn't make any specific reference to the A8.

That same source, Dan Hutcheson, CEO of chip industry tracker VLSI Research, did tell CNET, however, that it's possible that Apple could be getting future processors from more than one source. So, maybe both claims are accurate.

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