The Wall Street Journal is looking at a significant shift in the way Apple operates, as it appears the iPhone manufacturer is preparing to begin designing its own chips and semiconductors by hiring strategically from within the silicon industry.

By developing chips internally, Apple would be in a position to create custom integrated circuits (ICs) for its products - providing exclusive, proprietary functions and systems to cater specifically for its own products. This could mean a host of new and unique features, along with power consumption reductions and ultimately reduce costs.

It’s a huge and expensive undertaking, though the benefits are there for a company in as strong a position as Apple currently is. What with the rumours of a new range of media pads on the horizon, custom ICs could add functionality to these units that competitors would struggle to follow - as the third party designs wouldn’t be available to them.

It also means Apple, which is notoriously paranoid, would be able to shield its products from these competitors. Custom Apple ICs aren’t likely to appear any time soon (certainly not this year), but the concept is a very interesting one that should cause significant concern for rival manufacturers.