Acum cateva luni de zile v-am spus ca TSMC ar putea produce pentru Apple procesoare quad-core care ar urma sa fie implementate in iDevice-uri si acel zvon este sustinut de un altul care ne spune ca taiwanezii ar putea pregati o fabrica in acest scop. Project Azalea s-ar numi proiectul in cadrul caruia o fabrica TSMC ar fi dedicata producerii de chip-uri pentru iDevice-uri, fabrica urmand a fi construita in New York sau Oregon. Apple a spus ca va incerca sa genereze locuri de munca in SUA, iar aceasta fabrica este un bun exemplu in acest sens, ea urmand a genera 1.000 de locuri de munca pentru americani.
Business Oregon — the state’s economic development agency — confirms that it’s recruiting a company that goes by the codename “Azalea.” The department declined to discuss details of the effort, citing a nondisclosure agreement with the unnamed company. However, officials in New York have been actively pursuing what’s known there as “Project Azalea.” Documents obtained by The Business Review, an Albany, N.Y., weekly, describe that project as a 3.2-million-square-foot semiconductor factory that would employ at least 1,000 people.
The cost of building and equipping a new semiconductor factory — a fab, in the chip industry’s parlance — runs in the billions of dollars. That’s attracted great interest to the chatter around Azalea, which at this point is largely speculative. Within the chip industry, the theory is that the fab would be a contract facility to build microprocessors for Apple’s mobile devices, the iPhone and iPad.
In momentul de fata niciun chip al iDevice-urilor nu este produs in SUA, insa aceasta fabrica va schimba imaginea Apple si probabil va creste pretul de productie al iDevice-urilor, componentele fabricate acolo urmand a fi trimise in Asia pentru asamblare. Daca luam in calcul si restul taxelor/salariilor, atunci probabil Apple va cheltui mai multi bani pentru a produce componente in SUA, insa compania va castiga foarte multe la capitolul imagine. Nimeni nu stie sigur daca TSMC se afla in spatele fabricii, insa daca aceasta teorie este adevarata, atunci Apple ar putea controla mult mai usor procesul de fabricare al acestor chip-uri si le-ar putea imbunatati mult mai usor.
