Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM) will leapfrog foundry rival Samsung in 2016 on Apple’s (AAPL) A10 processor and the smartphone titan’s iPhone 7 ramp, expected next September, Credit Suisse and Pacific Crest analysts said separately on Friday. Meanwhile, weak iPhone 6S series demand continues to plague Apple chip suppliers InvenSense (INVN), Qorvo (QRVO), Skyworks Solutions (SWKS), Synaptics (SYNA) and Cirrus Logic (CRUS), Pacific Crest
Two Apple (AAPL) chip suppliers reclaimed a key level in Friday’s shortened trading session: NXP Semiconductors (NXPI) and Cirrus Logic (CRUS). NXP Semi on Friday was given regulatory approval from China’s Ministry of Commerce to complete its $12 billion dollar merger with Freescale Semiconductor (FSL). European and U.S. regulators have already signed off on the deal. NXP expects to close the transaction and the divestment of its RF power business
Apple (AAPL) supplier Avago Technologies (AVGO) might jettison its unprofitable industrial segment in lieu of a renewed focus on smartphone chips, MKM analyst Ian Ing suggests. This comes as Avago and fellow Apple chip suppliers like Skyworks Solutions (SWKS), Qorvo (QRVO), NXP Semiconductors (NXPI), Qualcomm (QCOM) and Cirrus Logic (CRUS) face continued constraints from slowing growth in the iPhone market, Ing wrote. “Avago is increasingly