Bloomberg is reporting that both Apple and Qualcomm were turned down by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) in attempts by the two companies to invest cash and gain exclusive access to smartphone chips.
Each company proposed investing more than US$1 billion in order to have TSMC set aside chip production capacity exclusively for them. Qualcomm and Apple are both trying to secure the chipmaking capacity to satisfy demand for smartphones, and either one of the deals would provide Apple with an alternative to Samsung -- which currently builds the primary silicon for both the iPhone and iPad. For Qualcomm, it's a necessary deal as well. The company's earnings are bei
