Apple chip rumor helps Samsung hit $1T valuation

A report earlier this week said that Apple was considering diversifying chip manufacturing away from its current sole dependence on TSMC.

Samsung was one of two companies named as potential future suppliers of Apple’s A-series and M-series chips, and that report saw the company’s share price rise significantly …

Monday’s Bloomberg report said that Apple had been in early-stage talks with both Intel and Samsung regarding future production of processors for its devices. We observed that any such partnerships are likely to be limited.

At this point, the most likely scenario is that the two companies would only be able to make larger-process chips for the older devices in Apple’s product line-up – similar to the less advanced TSMC equipment installed in the Arizona plants. That would certainly be a useful capability for Apple to have, but it would still leave the company entirely dependent on TSMC for its latest devices.

However, that hasn’t stopped investors responding positively, with Bloomberg reporting that Samsung’s share price rose 14% in response. That saw the company hit a $1 trillion valuation.

Samsung Electronics Co.’s market valuation topped $1 trillion after shares in the world’s largest memory maker more than quadrupled over the past year on booming demand for the chips used in artificial intelligence.

The milestone came as the South Korean company’s shares rallied 14% on Wednesday, making it only the second Asian firm after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to hit the mark.

We noted at the time that the report did raise a potentially worrying possibility for Apple customers: possible quality differences between chips made by TSMC and those made by its competitors.

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