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It may be the world’s largest consumer tech company, but even Apple sometimes has to look elsewhere when items on its shopping list are simply unavailable.
That seems to be the issue driving Apple to consider other semiconductor suppliers, including Samsung and Intel, as the ongoing chip shortage threatens the company’s supply chain, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.
Apple designs system-on-a-chip processors that its main supplier, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, builds for many of its devices. But if TSMC can’t keep up amid global shortages caused by AI and data center demand, Apple might have to consider other options.
According to the report, Apple hasn’t yet placed any major orders, but has been in talks with Samsung and Intel, and executives have even visited a Samsung plant being built in Texas. It could walk away from potential deals with both chip suitors, especially if there are any technical problems involved with switching to silicon from other companies.
Representatives for Apple, Samsung and Intel did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A representative for TSMC declined to comment.
Samsung last week announced a nearly 50-fold increase in its semiconductor revenue, driven by increased demand and increasingly tight global supplies.
Apart from supply chain issues, Apple also has an incentive to shift some of its sourcing to companies producing chips in the US. Tech companies, including Apple, are under pressure from the Trump administration to move manufacturing operations or source parts from companies doing business in the US.
Apple previously moved some of the manufacturing or assembly of some Macs to the US. During a trade war last year that imposed tariffs on China, it shifted some of its component sourcing to countries such as India and Vietnam.
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