Indicate that Apple is making a surprising move that likely has some of its cell phone silicon partners reeling — it is forming its own team design chips for its future iPods or iPhones.
In the past Apple has relied on partners, such as Infineon or Samsung Electronics Co., to design chips and chipsets for the iPhone. The partnership was lucrative for the chipmakers, but for Apple it represented frustrations as the company hoped for lower power consumption and better graphical abilities.
Apple has lured Raja Koduri away from Advanced Micro Devices graphics products group, where he was formerly chief technology officer. Apple had already snatched Bob Drebin, the previous CTO. In addition, Apple is filling dozens of hardware positions, the role of which it describes as “testing the functional correctness of Apple developed silicon.”