Apple may build own iPhone chips

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Apple may build own iPhone chips
According to the New York Times, the company may be working to develop an in-house chip based on the ARM architecture that Apple could fine-tune to work with the devices. Currently, the company is believed to use ARM chips powered by Samsung.

The report stems from the social networking profile of a key Apple engineer. Senior manager Wei-han Lien noted in a posting to his LinkedIn profile that he was overseeing an ARM architecture team for the iPhone.

Lien joined Apple earlier this year when the company purchased chipmaker PA Semi for $278 million. At that time, chief executive Steve Jobs openly stated that the acquisition was made to build a new processor for the iPhone.

If true, Lien's inadvertent leak would signal that Apple has settled on staying with the ARM architecture for future iPhone and iPod touch models.

Chipmakers license the ARM architecture primarily for use in mobile phones and embedded devices from ARM Holdings, a UK company whose 1990 launch was partially backed by Apple.

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