Apple reportedly makes a deal with TSMC for A6X production

With absolutely no love lost between Apple and Samsung, it's being suggested that Apple will yank processor chip production from the South Korean tech giant. A report today in the Mac Observer, quoting from The Commercial Times translated by AFP says Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) will become the major supplier of chips for Apple's mobile devices. That change could happen as early as the first quarter of this year.

Apple designs its own processors but gives contracts to others to produce them. Given the swarm of lawsuits between Samsung and Apple, it seemed only a matter of time before Apple pulled the plug, and certainly saw no reason to award multi-million dollar contracts to a company Apple feels has ripped off many of its ideas. In August, Samsung was ordered by a US court to pay Apple US$1.05 billion in damages for copying the iPhone and iPad features in some Galaxy smartphones. Samsung is appealing the ruling.

Apple and TSMC have declined to comment on the report.