Apple has reportedly approached Foxconn about the possibility of the Taiwanese manufacturer producing AI servers using Apple’s in-house chips.

However, according to a report from Nikkei Asia, because Foxconn is currently the biggest manufacturer of Nvidia AI servers, and is about to start production of GB200 systems, it is unlikely to have the capacity to take Apple on as a server customer.

While the volume of servers required by Apple would pale in comparison to the quantities being manufactured for Nvidia – namely, because Apple would be using them for internal use only – the company’s comparative lack of experience in designing data center servers means it would likely require more support on the engineering and design front.

A source with direct knowledge of the matter told Nikkei Asia that Apple is apparently keen to have the servers produced in Taiwan as it “hope[s] to tap the engineering talent and R&D resources that work for the Nvidia projects.”

The report additionally claimed that Apple has also approached Lenovo and its LCFC R&D subsidiary to help with some server designs, and has engaged other smaller suppliers to provide production servers.

As noted by Nikkei Asia, Apple plans to use its own chips for the AI servers. Separately, Apple Magazine reported this week that Apple is preparing to transition its Apple Intelligence servers from the M2 Ultra chip to the new M4 chip series starting next year.

First unveiled by the company in May 2024, Apple’s M4 chips contain 28 billion transistors and are made using TSMC’s 3nm process.

In April 2024, DCD exclusively reported that Apple had hired former Google, IBM, and Nvidia executive Sumit Gupta as director of products for Apple Cloud. At Google, Gupta said he was responsible for the company’s data center infrastructure products, including TPUs, Arm CPUs, storage, and networking.