Apple's decision to have the microprocessors for its popular iPhones and iPads made in Saratoga County grew out of a behind-the-scenes charm offensive by some of the most powerful figures in the state, and beyond. Even former Vice President Al Gore was involved.

GlobalFoundries, which employs 2,000 people at its Fab 8 chip factory in Malta, courted Apple aggressively on becoming a second source for the company's A-series chips, currently made in Austin, Texas, by Samsung Electronics. The deal is still fraught with risk. Samsung will work in Malta to show GlobalFoundries the secret "recipe" for making Apple's chips.

But a long-term order from Apple isn't guaranteed. "They have to prove they can earn the business," said a person with knowledge of the situation.

GlobalFoundries and state political leaders first saw an opportunity in late 2012 when Apple CEO Tim Cook said his company wanted to make more of its products in the United States. At about the same time, Ajit Manocha, the CEO of GlobalFoundries, ran into his friend Al Gore, who is also a member of Apple's board of directors. Manocha said GlobalFoundries could help Cook and Apple expand U.S. production.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo also pitched the idea, with a phone call to Cook touting the benefits of Apple production in New York state and the Capital Region. Not only could Apple use Fab 8 in Malta to make chips, but it could also tap into the research and development expertise at the SUNY College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering in Albany, the governor told Cook.

Cuomo followed up the call with a plaque he sent to Cook that features a silicon wafer made in New York, with the Apple logo superimposed on top of it. It reads: "Tax-Free Innovation Zones: Seeding Apple's Future in New York," a reference to what would later become Cuomo's Start-Up NY tax-free program.

At the same time, U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer and Manocha had developed a relationship and had been working together to bring semiconductor manufacturing jobs back to the U.S. This was when Manocha was serving as chairman of the Semiconductor Industry Association, where he'd made U.S. job creation a priority.

In July, Schumer called Cook at Apple, boasting of the R&D operation at the NanoCollege, as well as GlobalFoundries' own investments in R&D and its $2 billion technology development center. They agreed to continue talking, and in August, Cook told Schumer that he would be in Washington, D.C., the next day and would be interested in meeting with him and Manocha, who flew in from California.

The three gathered at Schumer's Capitol Hill office, where Cook said he was willing to explore the benefits of working with GlobalFoundries to produce chips for the mobile device market at Fab 8 in Malta. Samsung would be the conduit.

"From the beginning, it was clear that a relationship between Apple, GlobalFoundries and Samsung would be a huge shot in the arm for jobs in the Capital Region," Schumer told the Times Union last week. "I had worked with Apple on many other issues and had helped GlobalFoundries grow from its inception, and I thought they'd be a great fit."

If GlobalFoundries ultimately succeeds in winning Apple's long-term business, it could mean a huge new customer for the chips coming out of Malta. GlobalFoundries is adding a $2 billion chip development center to its Malta campus that it and Samsung will use to perfect Apple's chips, possibly in time for the iPhone 7.

Cook was especially interested, people with knowledge of the situation say, in the capabilities for making chips using 14 nanometer and 10 nanometer architectures, which are significantly more advanced than the architecture of the chips in today's iPhone, which are based on 28 nanometer features. The iPhone 7, which will be released in 2015, could use chips with the 14 nanometer design, although it's unclear when the transition to 10 nanometers would occur.

Both GlobalFoundries and Samsung have refused to discuss the relationship, although neither has denied it. Apple, typically ultra-secrative, has not responded to requests for comment.

At the Washington meeting in August, Cook apparently tried to convince Schumer to give up his old-style "flip-phone" and get an iPhone. Schumer stuck with his older device.

By: DocMemory
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