Apple has reportedly forged a new deal with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) for the volume production of higher A-series that will be used in upcoming iOS smartphone models, specifically for the phablet-size iPhone 6.

The agreement between the U.S. tech giant and the Taiwanese firm was finalised in early June, according to the Wall Street Journal, and will lead to the mass production of the 20nm A8 that allegedly will debut with the 5.7-inch iPhone 6.

Actual production activities for the mobile processing chip will commence September this year, the same report said, while initial shipments will materialise by early 2014, just in time for the reported launch date of Apple's first phablet-form smartphone.

Earlier reports coming from Taiwanese publication DigiTimes also hinted that the Apple-TSMC partnership will last for three years, with the engagement to cover the development not only of the A8 chip architecture but also of the succeeding builds.

According to analysts, Apple's latest move is in line with Tim Cook's, the company CEO, plan of steering away the firm's gadget supply from South Korea's Samsung, formerly main component supplier for Apple but now a bitter foe.

In the immediate two quarters ahead, however, Samsung will remain mainstay on Apple's 2013 iOS 7 device line-up. Specifically, the Asian company will build the chips that will be used for the next iPad and iPhone iterations, presumably the A7 that analysts said will be on board with the iPhone 5S.

Seen as a mere incremental improvement from last year's iPhone 5, the 5S is widely believed to begin in global rollout in September though some analysts are suggesting that the handset's release date could happen as early as August.

To be issued simultaneously with the Apple flagship is the so-called low-cost iPhone that blog reports now call as the iPhone Lite.

The iPhone 6, on the other hand, is pegged to start shipping out between the months of January and March next year, purportedly sporting the A8 chip that came from the foundry of TSMC.

TSMC has yet to issue a statement on the report and according to Agence France Presse (AFP), a representative of the company declined to comment, stressing that client relations are matters of confidentiality.