You know they say don't fix what's not broken. I think Apple is making a big mistake if they try to move their chip production over to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. instead of sticking with Samsung.
We've all loved our iPhones and iPads of every generation and the chips that ran them were ALL made by Samsung. They've done good work for Apple and we've all been the benefactors of their quality.
Now changing vendors is a big risk and doing so just because you're trying to hurt your "competitor" can be a double-edged sword. Just look at the Apple Maps fiasco with Google. Who came out looking good and who has lost 20% of their stock price or US$140 BILLION off their market cap?
Apple would need to win 139 more lawsuits against Samsung to make up for this loss.
What's worse is that like getting rid of Google Maps, Apple is showing it cares less about the user experience and providing the best quality and services for their customers, and more about their bottom line.
This isn't the Apple that people connected so strongly with and which let it become the biggest and most valuable company in the world. That Apple bit its lip and worked with competitors if it meant providing the best product for its customers, even if it meant less profits.
Samsung is the best chip manufacturer in the world. That's why everyone uses them, and that's why Apple used them. It was about the quality. Now it's a big unknown.
The sad thing is Apple and Samsung in the past have always been able to separate that client-vendor manufacturing relationship and the consumer electronics competitor relationship.
A company like Samsung is so big that those divisions probably have very little to do with each other. If anything, the Samsung manufacturing division probably treats that Samsung consumer electronics division as just another "client".
The fact is, in technology, you HAVE to be able to work with your competitors. That's how to get the best quality and that's how you get the lowest costs.
Apple seems to be experiencing the classic case of getting "too big for your britches" and it's going to hurt them in the long run.
Another tragedy in all this is that Samsung actually has a manufacturing plant in TEXAS. That's right. The chips it made for Apple were largely MADE IN THE USA. How's that for irony?
Give that Apple outsources all the assembly of its products to CHINA, having Samsung make their chips was actually one of the few ways AMERICAN WORKERS actually benefited by Apple's success. Apple giving Samsung their chip business meant AMERICAN JOBS.
It was always nice to know that Americans were involved in the manufacture of Apple products even though they were hired by an overseas ASIAN company.
Now with Apple using TSMC instead, all those AMERICAN JOBS will now be SHIPPED OVER to ASIA along with all the assembling jobs that are in CHINA.
Overall, this is worrying news for Apple consumers, not knowing if the quality of Apple products will take a hit, and even WORSE NEWS for American workers.