Bloomberg
Apple Inc, following through on a pledge to boost spending on US-made components, said its expanded agreement with Broadcom Inc is expected to top US$30 billion.The deal would involve manufacturing more than 15 billion chips in the US, supporting hundreds of jobs, Apple said in a statement yesterday. The iPhone maker would also help Broadcom upgrade its production facilities in Colorado.The announcement sheds new light on an arrangement that Broadcom announced on Monday, when the chipmaker said the pact would run through 2031, but did not offer financial details.
The Apple logo is pictured in an illustration on Aug. 25 last year.
The spending is part of a previously disclosed US$600 billion commitment to invest in the US, Apple said. Apple CEO Tim Cook touted the push alongside US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House last year.The Broadcom partnership would include a US$1.5 billion investment in that company’s production plant in Fort Collins, Colorado. Advanced radio frequency components for wireless chips would be built at the site, Apple said.
“We’re grateful to the president and his administration for supporting important projects like this,” Cook said in the statement, adding that “the cutting-edge components built in Fort Collins are essential to delivering the incredible performance and connectivity our customers expect.”Broadcom CEO Hock Tan (陳福陽) said his company is “proud to continue to work with Apple after decades of success together.” Broadcom has long supplied Apple with wireless chips, including those for letting devices access Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, but Apple has moved to in-house designs for those components over the past year.Still, Broadcom continues to provide other communication parts. It is working on chip technology that would support Apple’s effort to deploy its first dedicated artificial intelligence server as early as next year.Cook, meanwhile, is stepping down as Apple’s CEO on Sept. 1 and is to be replaced by longtime hardware chief John Ternus. Cook would remain at Apple as executive chairman and is expected to continue his role maintaining the company’s relationship with the White House.
