iPhone 6 and Samsung: Not much in common

Samsung is looking to boost its chip business for low-cost phones as

Apple switches to other manufacturers for its processors.

What do the iPhone 6 and Samsung have in common? Not much, according

to a report.

Samsung will not be making processors for Apple's iPhone 6, so says

the Korea Economic Daily in a report dated Wednesday.

To counter the "damage caused" by "Apple shunning Samsung" for the

iPhone 6 processor, the Korean company is developing a processor with

an integrated 3G/4G modem for low-cost phones to compete with Qualcomm

and MediaTek, the report said.

Qualcomm is a leading supplier of processors with modems built

directly onto the same slice of silicon as the processor.

Demand for phone processors -- referred to generally as an AP or

application processor -- with a built-in modem is increasing as the

demand for low-cost phones rises.

Samsung Exynos chips -- like the Exynos 5 Octa -- do not have

integrated modems. Nor do the chips that Samsung has manufactured for

Apple.

Though Samsung is making processors for the iPhone 5, Apple is

expected to switch to another chipmaker -- such as Taiwan

Semiconductor Manufacturing Company or TSMC -- for the iPhone 6. It's

not clear if Apple will integrate the modem onto the processor in

future chips.

A recent report in the Korea Economic Daily claimed Samsung will

return as a supplier to Apple with a future A9 processor, which is at

least a couple of years down the road.

That same report claimed TSMC will be the manufacturer of the next

round of Apple processors.