Intel Corp (INTC)

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Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and its IC design service partner Global UniChip have secured a three-year agreement with Apple to supply foundry services for the next A-series chips built using 20nm, 16nm and 10nm process nodes, according to industry sources.

There's a lot of roadmap details here. I'm sure Apple won't be pleased.

- A8 chips for iPhone 5 successor, based on 20nm: tapeout Jul'13, volume production: early 2014

- A9/A9X chips for newer-generation iPhone and iPad, based on 16nm FinFET / 20nm backend: Q3'14

- A three year agreement puts them in 2016 for the 10nm node - back to a 2-year cadence

Seems a little "off" to be expecting volume production of FinFET only 2 quarters after initial 20nm designs. TSMC has not blinked from their aggressive schedules. Is it a breakthrough, or a game of chicken?