Supply Chain Realignment Begins
Apple has held exploratory discussions about using Intel and Samsung to produce the main processors for its devices, a move that would offer a secondary option beyond its longtime partner, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. For years, TSMC has been the unchallenged backbone of Apple's silicon ambitions, delivering the A-series chips powering iPhones and the M-series driving Mac performance. That relationship has produced extraordinary results, but it has also concentrated enormous strategic risk in a single geography. Tim Cook has long cautioned against this, noting that having 60 per cent of production coming out of any one location is probably not a strategic position. That philosophy is now translating into concrete exploratory action, and the industry is watching closely to see how far Apple is willing to go.
Multi-Foundry Strategy Emerges
Apple executives have made visits to a Samsung plant under development in Texas and separately held preliminary talks with Intel about enlisting the company's chipmaking services. Samsung's Texas fab in Taylor is expected to start operations by 2027, and the company is working on 2nm chip technology, positioning itself to close the gap with TSMC. Intel, under CEO Lip-Bu Tan, is pursuing an aggressive foundry transformation of its own. For Intel, securing Apple volumes would serve as a major validation of its still-nascent foundry push, while also rekindling a partnership that began in 2006 and lasted until Apple transitioned to its own Apple Silicon chips. The CHIPS Act adds further momentum, with Washington offering financial incentives designed to anchor advanced semiconductor production firmly within the United States.
Resilience Over Efficiency
This shift reflects something deeper than a procurement decision. Apple is structurally moving away from single-supplier dependency toward a diversified foundry ecosystem, prioritising resilience over the pure efficiency that made TSMC so dominant. Production in Taiwan carries particular risks because China sees the self-governing island as part of its territory, and that geopolitical exposure has become impossible to ignore at the board level. Apple has concerns about using non-TSMC technology, with reliability and production scale remaining the key factors any alternative supplier must address. Should Apple proceed, Intel gains strategic credibility for its foundry ambitions, Samsung strengthens its position in advanced logic manufacturing, and capital allocation across the semiconductor value chain accelerates toward US-based fabs. TSMC retains its technological lead for now, but the concentration of its most important customer relationship begins to soften.