Apple to add a second U.S. chip fabrication plant in upstate New York

[RaduTyrsina]

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According to a Monday report from the Albany Times Union publication, Apple will add a second U.S. chip fabrication plant to its supply chain in Malta, upstate New York. The launch of the new facility is said to cost $6 billion and Apple will have as partner for the deal the California-based GlobalFoundries supplier.

Thew new plant will take care of the production of A-series processors, which are used in the building of iPhones and iPads. At the moment, Samsung is the sole supplier of A-series processors for Apple, making the chips at its plant in Austin, Texas. Allegedly, Samsung will also be part of the deal, helping GlobalFoundries in the manufacturing process.

Larry Rulison with Times Union said the following:

Samsung Electronics, which currently makes the logic microprocessors used in Apple’s popular iPhone and iPad devices at its Austin, Texas fab, will help with the start-up of the Apple program, ensuring that Apple will have a second U.S. source for chips for the popular smart phones and tablets. Logic chips are the workhorse chips that are essentially the brains of a smartphone.

Referring to the “troubled†relationship between Apple and Samsung, he also added:

Although Samsung and Apple are director competitors in the smartphone and tablet market, the two companies have a symbiotic relationship. Apple doesn’t make its own chips, it needs to outsource them. However, Apple likes to use Samsung because it not only has a domestic factory, but it also provides Apple with memory chips in addition to the logic chips. Its cheaper for Apple to buy both types of chips from the same company. Samsung has also developed new technologies to make logic and memory chips connect better, eliminating tiny bottlenecks in the flow of information and power

Recently, Apple disclosed its plans of building a new sapphire plant in Arizona, which will create 2000 new jobs. Apple is trying to move a part of its products manufacturing process from oversea to within the country, which will create more jobs for the American company and increase the power of its brand.

Source: TimesUnion