An exclusive report by the Silicon Valley Business Journal revealed that Apple has purchased a 70,000-square-foot chipmaking factory in San Jose, California for the sum of $18.2 million.
The factory, the purchase of which was discovered through public records, is only a 20-minute drive away from Apple's Infinite Loop headquarters in Cupertino.
The structure was formerly a manufacturing plant named X3 for Maxim Integrated Products, a semiconductor company. It was used as a low-volume facility, but was closed in July.
Interestingly, the newly purchased facility by Apple is neighboring a 10-story structure that is being constructed by Samsung Semiconductor. The factory is also surrounded by facilities of Cisco and other firms in the semiconductor and network industry.
It is not yet determined what Apple will be using the factory for. However, Maxim was selling the property as one that can be used as an operational fab that is geared for manufacturing prototypes and pilot products and for low-volume processes.
The listing of the property also stated that it is able to produce a wide range of products with several technology nodes covering 90nm to 600nm, with most of the production being at 180nm to 350nm. The facility also includes a complete line of 197 well-maintained tools from a variety of original equipment manufacturers, but it is nowhere near capable of producing Apple's latest A9 processors.
The core chip production for Apple's iOS devices and Mac computers are carried out by several partners, which includes Samsung, Broadcom, Intel, Texas Instruments and others. These companies typically use more advanced technology that the new Apple factory is able to do. However, with the comparatively small fab of the facility, Apple could be able to manufacture prototypes of new chip designs and carry out other research and development activities at the site.
In addition to the facility acquired from Maxim, Apple has acquired more land in San Jose covering about 86 acres. The real estate, which includes undeveloped land that used to be owned by Lowe and Atmel's 101 Tech campus which used to stand as the headquarters for semiconductor company, is just north of the Mineta International airport and features a direct connection via VTA to downtown San Jose.
Apple, as with the new chipmaking factory, has not yet revealed its plans for the land.
