Samsung should start producing 14nm chips for Apple, Qualcomm, and AMD by the end of 2014, a report says. Apple's
inclusion is particularly significant, as it implies that the company will be starting on production of a next-generation A-series processor, presumably the A9. The A8 only began appearing in Apple devices last month, with the launch of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.
It's unclear to what, if any, degree TSMC will be involved in A9 production. TSMC is believed to be the majority producer of A8 chips, even if Samsung may still be supplying 40 percent or so. Prior to that, Samsung was the exclusive manufacturer of A-series chips at a factory in Austin, Texas. TSMC is at least working on 16nm technology, but that would be incompatible with a 14nm design.
The A8 is a 20nm chip. Samsung says that versus 20nm, chips made using its 14nm FinFet process should consume 35 percent less electricity, 15 percent less space, and have 20 percent more processing power. The chips are also three-dimensional rather than flat, and take the "FinFet" name from the fin-like shape of their gates.