Apple, Qualcomm failed to buy TSMC chip exclusive rights [report]

Apple and Qualcomm have failed in separate bids to purchase exclusive access to TSMC chip supplies for iOS devices.

Bloomberg reports that by making separate investment offers in the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., reaching in excess of $1 billion, the two firms attempted to secure exclusive access to the custom chip maker's products.

If successful, Apple and Qualcomm would have been granted production rights set aside exclusively for them, according to people close to the matter. However, TSMC wants to retain control of its plants -- even though Chairman Morris Chang told investors last month that it was possible to dedicate one or two factories to a single client.

The chip maker says it doesn't want to sell part of itself and does not need cash for investments, and intends to remain flexible enough to switch chip production and development among customers.

TSMC, which supplies chips to tech giants including Qualcomm, Broadcom and Nvidia, would have offered the chance for Apple to rely less on rival firm Samsung for mobile device components. As the bid for exclusivity failed, it could be an option for Apple to pursue the idea of taking over a factory.

Apple and Qualcomm are both tying to satisfy increasing global demand for mobile devices -- and securing additional manufacturing resources is part of the process. The smartphone market -- which is a dominant factor in chip production and development -- is currently worth $219.1 billion according to Bloomberg analysts.

Previous rumors suggested that Apple was working with TSMC, however, production issues were cited as a problem -- which resulted in the tech giant staying with Samsung for the time being.