What you need to know
- Apple uses TSMC for chips like the A14 Bionic, M1, and more.
- Apple reportedly accounts for more than 20% of all TSMC chip revenue.
Apple reportedly accounts for more than 20% of the revenue TSMC brings in via chip manufacturing, according to a new report.
Apple uses TSMC as the manufacturer for its A-series chips, found in iPhones and iPads. The A15 Bionic is expected to power the upcoming iPhone 13, for example. But more recently the company also began producing the M-series chips, including those that power the hugely impressive M1 iMac — one of the best Macs available for the vast majority of people.
The number comes courtesy of a paywalled DigiTimes report that cites industry sources.
Apple has been TSMC's largest client, with its chip orders for the iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch continuing to account for more than 20% of the foundry's total wafer revenue, according to industry sources.
TSMC's fortunes have long been directly linked to how well Apple's iPhones have been selling. With its fingers also in the iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch pies, the company does at least now have a more diverse number of products on which it relies.
In the case of Apple's chips, the company designs them in-house and has TSMC build them for it. That's a process that other companies have begun to copy, including Google with the recently announced Pixel 6 devices.
