There have been reports about Apple investing on a chip venture for $10 billion. Tracing the company's history, Apple has relied mainly on Samsung for its A-series chip. It is not an ideal set-up given the history of rivalry between the two companies. But it looks like Apple will be relying less on Samsung for 2014 for their A-series chips. According to recent reports, both companies are planning to release their most powerful chipsets yet for iPhone 6 and Samsung Galaxy S5. Which will be more powerful?

Recent reports say Apple has teamed up with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) in place of Samsung to manufacture chips for iPads and iPhones in the future. Sources say the chips will be even more advanced than the A7 chip that surprised the market when it was released. It is a 64-bit processor that provides as much power as anyone can imagine. It has posted impressive benchmark results for the iPhone 5s.

According to Digitimes, the upcoming A-series chips will be based on a 14/16 nm process. But Cult of Mac finds that "pretty hard to believe." The latest A7 chips are based on the 28 nm process and the next process would be 22 nm. But considering an A8 chip built based on a smaller processor will boost the iPhone's speed exponentially. It will also improve the device's power efficiency.

However, some analysts still doubt TSMC's capacity to handle mass production. It is also the first time the company will be working with Apple so it may hit some bumps along the way.

Samsung, on other hand, has also hinted about the features of its upcoming flagship phone. The Samsung Galaxy S5 will run on the new Exynos S CPU. The processor will run all eight cores simultaneously. It will also feature a 4 GB LPDDR4 RAM assuring performance. Analysts predict the Exynos S will be one of, if not, the best performing chipset yet.

People will have to wait for official announcements from both companies. Analysts predict it will be a tough competition for smartphones this year. Other manufacturers have to step up to match Apple and Samsung's processing power.