Samsung Will Supply NAND Flash Chips for 2017 iPhones to Ease Shortage

Apple's upcoming range of new iPhones could be hit by a 30 percent shortage in the supply of storage capacity chips, according to a new report by DigiTimes on Thursday.

The article claims that both SK Hynix and Toshiba have suffered from lower-than-expected yield rates for their 3D NAND flash chips, resulting in fewer supplies available for Apple's 2017 series of iPhones. Apple is said to have called on Samsung in an effort to secure more.

Apple has turned to Samsung for more NAND chip supplies for its upcoming phones, since Samsung has relatively stable yield rates for 3D NAND technology and has scaled up its output of 3D NAND chips, the sources indicated.

Apple began using non-volatile 3D NAND chips in its mobile devices last year because of the technology's ability to pack more storage space into equivalent dimensions compared to previous flash memory. However production of the chips is a more delicate process, and it looks as if Apple's priority suppliers haven't been able to increase their yield sufficiently to provide for the devices the company is planning to launch in 2017.

Apple's reliance on Samsung to shore up the supply isn't exactly out of the blue. Back in April of last year it was reported that Samsung would again become an Apple supplier of NAND flash chips, ending a five-year hiatus dating back to the iPhone 5 in 2012.

Apple is expected to announce a "tenth anniversary" OLED iPhone in September alongside more typical "S" cycle updates to its iPhone 7 and 7 Plus. One rumor has suggested the so-called "iPhone 8" will include increased storage space, while two additional rumors say it will be available in 64 and 256GB capacities.

Related Roundup: iPhone 8

Tags: Samsung, 3D NAND

Top Rated Comments

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Strelok

18 months ago

Apple Fanboys and Fangirls, next time you say "I will never us a Samsung product" maybe think again;)

*facepalm*. Great way to start this thread. 8/8.

Rating: 7 Votes

Sunny1990

18 months ago

It would be nice if they phase out 32GB. 64GB should be the minimum with all models.

Rating: 6 Votes

MacDarcy

18 months ago

What a strange relationship these two have. Bitter rivals who are constantly suing each other yet also work with each other.

Rating: 6 Votes

fermat-au

18 months ago

Apple Fanboys and Fangirls, next time you say "I will never us a Samsung product" maybe think again;)

Rating: 5 Votes

bookwormsy

18 months ago

It would be nice if they phase out 32GB. 64GB should be the minimum with all models.

I remember not too long ago when people were saying that 32GB should be the minimum...

Rating: 5 Votes

Jim Lahey

18 months ago

Business is business. Of course Apple will use Samsung components if they feel it benefits their business. Just as Samsung will sell to Apple if they feel it benefits theirs. Business. It's not a fist fight. It seems simple to me, but I'll refrain from judging those who misunderstand it :)

Rating: 4 Votes

Kabeyun

18 months ago

Apple Fanboys and Fangirls, next time you say "I will never us a Samsung product" maybe think again;)

This is un-news. Even Apple fans know that Sammy is both a supplier and a competitor. *yawn*

The actually interesting part of this to me is that Apple is feeling a flash memory constraint. When Tim Cook was COO, he was widely admired as probably the finest supply chain guru in tech. He knew, for example, that the iPod Nano would take off and cornered the NAND (I just got the joke: nano/nand! :confused:) market for something like five years. It actually affected competitors bringing product to market. Now Apple's scrambling to get enough. Not sure what it means, but it's interesting how times and fortunes change.

Rating: 3 Votes

gigapocket1

18 months ago

2 months from now. We will be comparing speeds of Samsung ram vs Toshiba.
The holy grail iPhone 8.. will be Samsung storage, Samsung OLED screen, and Qualcomm modem chip..
The lesser version will be toshiba ram, LG screen and intel modem chip..

Rating: 2 Votes

69Mustang

18 months ago

I think Apple's penchant for a conservative approach to adoption of new tech is the reason for the issues here. 3D NAND has been around for a while, but Apple didn't use it in iPhones until last year. Before that they were using planar(2D) NAND. They had, and still have decent 2D NAND supply. 3D NAND is a different animal. Supposedly, it's more difficult to manufacture - especially at higher volume. Sammy's been at that game for a while.

And you're right. Samsung and Apple working together is not news. They've worked together for more than 20 years.

Rating: 2 Votes