Apple A8 contract winner - TSMC, Samsung or both?

(Photo: Wikipedia)Samsung Pavilion at Expo 2012.

Samsung and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) currently have a PR battle which is beginning to heat up. The reason? Who gets to make Apple's next-gen processor. Both Samsung and TSMC claim they are making it.

According to a report by CNET, Samsung put forth its claim on Monday, as ZDNet Korea reported. The report said Samsung and Apple signed an agreement for the A8 chip production, and that shipment will commence this fall.

Samsung and Apple's relationship was recently strained as the two companies compete both in stores and in courtrooms. As Apple's contract foundry for its heavily guarded A series processors, Samsung is the most vital component of the American company's top-selling iOS devices.

Meanwhile, Taipei-based TSMC which already produce less high-profile Apple chips, has been rumored as Samsung's successor in the chip's production. Reports last week suggested that the Taiwanese company is taking over most of the A8 orders, leaving Samsung as a secondary supplier.

However, this is not the first time TSMC is linked to Apple's silicon and eventually end up losing to Samsung. TSMC was the target candidate for production of the A6X and A7 processors, each of which will eventually roll off of Samsung's production line in Texas.

As Samsung made the announcment to have signed the A8 contract, TSMC also announced last week that it has the A8 chip in its bag.

Earlier in March, CNET was being told by a specialist in the chip industry that Samsung is still involved in manufacturing chips for Apple. The report did not specify or make any reference to A8, however. The CEO of VLSI Research, Dan Hutcheson, told CNET that it is also possible for Apple to get processors from several sources. That could mean both companies' claims might end up being correct.

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