What you need to know
- Apple is working on an autonomous electric vehicle.
- A new report says the company may tap a Korean substrate maker for the chips that will go in the vehicle.
- That's because many of its usual suppliers don't have capacity.
A new report claims that Apple is in talks with a Korean substrate maker over the supply of chips for its rumored autonomous vehicle.
Digitimes today reports that Apple is in talks with a Korean supplier for Apple Car:
Apple reportedly is in talks with a Korean substrate maker for the supply of ABF-based FC-BGA substrates for processing Apple Car chip solutions, sparking concerns about which IC substrate suppliers will eventually contribute components to Apple's EV, according to industry sources.It seems plausible that Apple might seek ABF substrates from a Korean substrate maker that could give full capacity support for Apple Car production, the sources said.
The report says this is because major suppliers in Taiwan, Japan, and Austria have very little capacity to cope with Apple Car demand. The type of chips used by cars are also currently in limited demand at the moment:
This, coupled with stringent and time-consuming validations for car-use ABF substrates, has deterred existing major IC substrate makers from building dedicated production lines for Apple Car or other EV vendors, the sources stressed.
As the report notes, Apple mostly relies on places like Taiwan to fulfill orders for chips like its M1 processor that features in the M1 iPad Pro (2021), and its best MacBooks including the MacBook Air with M1 and 13-inch MacBook Pro with M1.
A recent report stated that some of Apple's current main suppliers were in the running for future Apple Car production, however, there are reports that Apple is also trying to connect with established carmakers such as Hyundai.
