苹果高通砸10亿美元买台积电产能遭拒绝

据报导，苹果(Apple)和高通(Qualcomm)各自出具10亿美元，希望能获得台积电(TSMC)为其处理器芯片提供专用产能，但他们的要求都已遭到拒绝。 苹果的智能手机和平板电脑──iPhone和iPad都需要专用芯片；而高通则是苹果竞争平台Android移动设备应用处理器的主要供货商。据彭博新闻援引不具名消息来源指称，苹果和高通的建议中还包括了投资台积电。 目前，苹果仍仰赖三星电子(Samsung Electronics)来制造A5处理器，但这两家公司现也陷入专利侵权诉讼之中。据报导，苹果正和台积电展开28nm的A6处理器制造。但在此同时，Snapdragon处理器供货商高通则面临28nm产能短缺。 业界有人猜测苹果和高通等公司很可能会试图花钱来获得充足的先进芯片供应保证，目前，这是对移动设备销售造成阻碍的原因之一。 今年七月，台积电董事长兼CEO张忠谋曾表示，该公司正在考虑单一客户晶圆厂策略。然而，作为专业的晶圆代工厂，台积电的客户包括许多采取Fab-lite 策略的大厂和无晶圆厂芯片公司，如博通(Broadcom)、Nvidia、联发科(MediaTek)等。如果和高通与苹果太过亲近，对其独立地位可能动摇，甚至可能产生客户投向其它代工厂怀抱的风险。 此外，台积电首席财务官何丽梅也对经营单一客户晶圆厂策略有所保留。据彭博新闻引述何丽梅的说法表示，“你必须很小心。一旦产品线转移，专用晶圆厂又将如何？我们想保有灵活性。” 本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载 编译： Joy Teng 参考英文原文：TSMC said to rebuff Apple, Qualcomm ，by Peter Clarke

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{pagination} TSMC said to rebuff Apple, Qualcomm Peter Clarke LONDON – Apple and Qualcomm have each offered more than a $1 billion to foundry Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to obtain a dedicated supply of processor chips, and both their offers have been rejected, according to a Bloomberg report. Apple needs the chips for its own smartphomes and tablet computers – iPhones and iPads – while Qualcomm is the leading supplier of application processors to the rival Android platform of mobile equipment. Both the Apple and Qualcomm proposals included investments in TSMC (Hsinchu, Taiwan), Bloomberg said quoting unnamed sources. At present Apple relies on Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. for its leading edge A5 processor but Apple is in a high profile legal dispute with Samsung over the look and feel of smartphones. Apple has been reported to be working with TSMC (Hsinchu, Taiwan) to bring up a 28-nm A6 processor. Meanwhile Qualcomm, which has designed the Snapdragon processor, is known to be suffering from a shortage of supply at the 28-nm node. There has been speculation that companies such as Apple and Qualcomm would try to use their financial muscle to obtain a secure supply of leading-edge chips which at present is limiting sales of mobile equipment. In July Morris Chang, chairman and CEO of TSMC, said the company was considering operating single-customer wafer fabs so a rejection of the Apple and Qualcomm investment proposals may have resulted from detailed terms or the fact that equity was being sought. However, as a foundry supplier TSMC profits from serving many fab-lite and fabless chip companies, including Broadcom, Nvidia, MediaTek and many others. If it was seen to be too close to Qualcomm or Apple it might risk its independent status and drive other customers into the arms of rival foundry suppliers. In addition Lora Ho, chief financial officer of TSMC, has expressed reservations about operating single-customer wafer fabs. "You have to be careful. Once that product migrates, what are going to do with that dedicated fab? We would like to keep the flexibility," the Bloomberg report quoted Ho as saying.