A report earlier this week said that Apple is considering diversifying its chip manufacturing, moving away from its current exclusive reliance on TSMC. Samsung was one of two companies mentioned as potential future suppliers of A-series and M-series , and that report led to a significant increase in the company's share price.
See also: Samsung Electronics surpasses $1 trillion, along with TSMC
Monday's report from Bloomberg said Apple has had initial talks with Intel and Samsung about future processor production for its devices. Any such collaboration is likely to be limited.
At this point, the most likely scenario is that the two companies could only build larger process chips for older devices in Apple’s product line — similar to TSMC’s less advanced equipment installed in its Arizona factories. That would certainly be a useful feature for Apple, but it would leave the company entirely dependent on TSMC for its latest devices.
See also: Apple is considering Intel and Samsung for chip production
However, that didn’t stop investors from reacting positively, with Bloomberg reporting that Samsung’s share price rose 14% in response. That led to the company reaching a valuation of $1 trillion. Samsung Electronics Co. topped $1 trillion after shares of the world’s largest memory maker quadrupled in the past year on rising demand for chips used in artificial intelligence.
The milestone was achieved as shares of the South Korean company rose 14% on Wednesday, making it only the second Asian company after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to reach that point.
See also: Samsung warns that RAM shortage could worsen next year
The report raised a potentially worrying possibility for Apple customers: potential quality differences between chips made by TSMC and those made by its competitors.
