Apple Leans Towards TSM To Reduce Reliance On Qualcomm

Apple Inc AAPL looks to rope in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd TSM to manufacture 5G iPhone modems from 2023, reducing its reliance on Qualcomm Inc QCOM, Nikkei Asia reports.

• Apple aims to adopt TSM's 4-nm chip production technology to mass-produce its first in-house 5G modem chip.
• Apple is developing its radio frequency and millimeter wave components to complement the modem. Apple is also working on its power management chip specifically for the modem.
• Apple's move aims to integrate TSM chips with its in-house mobile processor, gain more control on its hardware integration capability and chip efficacy boost.
• Qualcomm recently confirmed that its share of iPhone modem orders will drop to about 20% in 2023.
• Apple uses TSM's 5-nm chip production for the new 5G iPhone modem to design and test-produce the chip. 
• Apple will also use TSM's 4-nm tech for its iPhone processor in the second half of 2022. 
• Apple aims to use 3-nm tech for iPhone processors by 2023.
• Price Action: QCOM shares traded lower by 0.88% at $179.35 in the market session on the last check Wednesday.