Apple's next chip is getting pricier but not as bad as feared. Morgan Stanley reports the tech giant locked down enough NAND flash memory supply for early this year, though vendor KIOXIA will still raise rates in a coming long term deal. The bigger issue is DRAM. Apple is still negotiating for access, with suppliers pushing hard to align contract prices closer to the hot spot market. Analysts expect Apple to accept a sequential price jump exceeding fifty percent to secure those chips.
The foundry side brings better news. TSMC is raising its advanced wafer prices for Apple only slightly, a smaller increase than what other top clients will face. This favorable treatment at the fab helps offset the memory cost surge. Combining these factors, Morgan Stanley now estimates the total cost for Apple's upcoming A20 processor will rise about thirty percent over the current A19 chip. This forecast contradicts a previous aggressive report suggesting an eighty percent cost hike. Apple's massive purchase volume with TSMC appears to have provided crucial leverage, keeping the increase lower than some predictions. The A20 chip will use TSMC's new 2-nanometer manufacturing process.
The foundry side brings better news. TSMC is raising its advanced wafer prices for Apple only slightly, a smaller increase than what other top clients will face. This favorable treatment at the fab helps offset the memory cost surge. Combining these factors, Morgan Stanley now estimates the total cost for Apple's upcoming A20 processor will rise about thirty percent over the current A19 chip. This forecast contradicts a previous aggressive report suggesting an eighty percent cost hike. Apple's massive purchase volume with TSMC appears to have provided crucial leverage, keeping the increase lower than some predictions. The A20 chip will use TSMC's new 2-nanometer manufacturing process.
