Fresh reports indicate that Apple is turning to Samsung for the main processing chip and displays for the next iPhone and snubbing TSMC and SanDisk.

TSMC and Samsung have incurred massive capital expenditures to secure orders from Apple and Qualcomm in the more than $300 billion semiconductor industry. TSMC has invested a $12 billion in plants and equipment, while Samsung spent $3.7 billion towards its processor business in 2014 and could increase that to $4.9 billion in 2015. Samsung is also investing $15 billion in a new chip plant outside Seoul.

Samsung will use the 14-nanometer manufacturing process and outpace TSMC, which had earlier admitted that it would lose ground to Samsung in the most-advanced chip technology before reclaiming the upper hand in 2016.

Apple's decision to choose Samsung was reportedly based on the Korean company's investment of $14 billion towards new plants and equipment for meeting its requirements, as well as its "superior chip quality and performance in comparison to TSMC."

However ironically it means that much of the business end of the iPhone will be same as its main rival – other than for the fact one will be allowed to use a rounded rectangle.