Samsung may be outsourcing some of Apple’s chip fabrication to GlobalFoundries. An Albany newspaper is reporting that GlobalFoundries will start making iPhone and iPad processors at its foundry in Malta, New York. A Samsung team is reportedly visiting the factory to share Apple’s chip designs.
Samsung has manufactured the Apple-designed processors found inside iPhones and iPads for years, despite the fact that the two companies compete head-on in the smartphone market. Apple does not have its own chip foundries, as Samsung does, and apparently Samsung’s Austin plant that makes mobile processors may need some help. Samsung is in the process of retrofitting that plant, which had previously been used primarily for memory chip fabrication.
Intel launches IoT unit
Add Intel to the list of major companies focusing on the Internet of Things. The company’s new IoT Solutions Group will combine the resources of its Intelligent Systems Group with its Wind River division. Wind River creates software solutions for a wide array of vertical markets, including automotive, energy and medicine. Intel is hoping to target these same industries with chips and software for connected devices.
Intel’s new IoT group will be led by Doug Davis (pictured), an Intel veteran who has held leadership roles in many parts of the business, including Intel’s embedded and communications group, its mobile division and a chip fabrication plant. Davis will report directly to Intel CEO Brian Krzanich.
Intel is also partnered with Cisco and AT&T in a broad IoT initiative spearheaded by General Electric. GE has created a new software platform called Predix that it says is up to the task of processing industrial big data. Intel is working with GE to make Predix more efficient by embedding virtualization and standardized interfaces.
Standardized software for connected devices could jump start production and adoption, but it is not yet clear to what extent Intel will work with major software players. Oracle and Freescale, an Intel competitor, are launching an end-to-end Java solution with a converged gateway design. These solutions are targeting “smart home” devices, while Intel looks set to focus more on industrial applications.
