Meet iPhone's A-Team Suppliers

 

Updated from 11:23 a.m. EDT

Apple's (AAPL) iPhone innards have been revealed, giving investors a key supplier list to ponder.

Research analysts at RBC cracked open a few iPhones and solved the long-running mystery about just which chipmakers would wind up in the guts of the blockbuster mobile phone.

For starters, Intel (INTC) is not the core chip. Samsung, rather, won the iPhone's main processor job, says RBC.

The news probably comes as little surprise to Intel watchers, who had been warned in advance about getting stiffed on the processor. Intel says it's not a total shutout; the company supplies the 32-megabit flash memory for the iPhone.

The crack team at RBC also identified Broadcom's (BRCM) input/output controller chip in the device, confirming speculation that the Irvine, Calif. tech shop was part of the iPhone action. And not to be left out, wireless-chip giant Texas Instruments (TXN) got the power-management slot.

Other suppliers include Marvell (MRVL) with its WiFi chip, Micron (MU) as the producer of the two-megapixel camera sensor and Skyworks (SWKS) as the provider of the iPhone's front-end power amplifier, says RBC.

There seemed to be some uncertainty about who provided the iPhone's display drivers. RBC says National Semiconductor (NSM) may be the supplier.

How valuable do you think supplying iPhone components can be to a company?
Answer Here

As recent tech history shows, getting a key chip into a hot product has proven to be a lucrative gig for some suppliers. For instance, Analog Devices (ADI) provides chips for the Nintendo Wii, and the company has seen its shares jump 19% since the introduction of the perpetually sold out video-game player on Nov. 19.

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