and not to mention, Storrs isn't too far from East Fishkill, either.

EFK is where IBM's B323 chip fab plant is -- the one that is in the running with GlobalFoundries' Fab8 plant on Apple's short-list (GF -- out of Taiwan as is TSMC -- is more-or-less the manufacturing arm of AMD, but Fab8 is in Malta).

the question is whether AAPL would want its direct tendrils in just a dev fab ($2B, for 10nm capabilities) or a full-blown production fab ($5B)

with its own fabs (whether they're JVs like UMC or TSMC) Samsung can be pretty much taken completely out of AAPL's supply chain.

IBM at the B323 plant and nearby at Owego historically has had more experience with GaAs than Fab8. It's where they did the Space Shuttle work in collaboration with Lockheed Martin (even though alot of IBM's pure GaAs R&D is done in Zurich).

I bet the mysterious driver behind the priority shift in today's NR could have *alot* to do with why my avatar up there is what it is.

goddam.

what a way to start the weekend.

:-D

GLTA,

R.