Apple in talks to buy ARM?
ARM chips, including the current Cortex A8, power the iPhone 3GS, iPod touch G3, and form part of the A4 system-on-chip for the iPad — add that to some whispers and we get the full on rumor that Apple is in talks to buy them out.
Here’s where it gets really interesting — ARM chips power a slew of other devices as well, including those running Android and Palm.
Rumors of Apple buying desktop chipmaker AMD were floated earlier in the week, so who knows what if anything is really going on here, but tying up a major mobile CPU maker and locker out your competition must hold a certain appeal for Apple (whose already a major licensor of ARM). With $41 billion in the bank, even the likely $8 billion price tag isn’t out of the question.
We’re doubting it at the moment, but what do you think? They’ve already bought PA Semi and may have bought ARM design company Intrisity, and Google just bought Agnilux. Should Apple buy ARM outright?
[London Evening Standard via MacRumors]
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Very interesting if they buy AMD. If they own PA Semi. Why would they also need ARM. Buying AMD would also dig them into ATI.
I doubt they’d get away with stopping supply to competitors?
Don’t see why not. For every palm or android device made with ARM technology apple will get a cut. Makes sense since they’re no longer using Samsung’s technology.
Who makes snapdragon ? I think it’s a graphics card company if I’m not mistaken. If the android devices go towards snapdragon then apple is SOL
@OJ: All the companies you cite use ARM, including Samsung who is a regular licences of ARM.
Snapdragon is an ARM chipset made by Qualcomm, who is quite the big player in cell phone and wireless silicon.
(whose already a major licensor of ARM) –> who’s already…
@SheiknetChris : so I guess this buy out could be bigger than I thought.
Wasn’t ARM finnanced in the first place by Apple, among others? (Whn they powered Acorn computers, even with finnancial support from IBM?)
So this company is sort of ‘Pixar’ for them….
Apple has been acting pretty smart all the time. Blocking devlopers To their own platform and cutting off adobe and if this hoes through they would be making a monopoly of their own in the smartphones market.
Soon apple will own everything and then there will be competion its stupid, competition makes better technology!!!!
Sorry then there be no compition!
It would certainly be big news, but I remain of the opinion that there would be no faster way to run a CPU manufacturer into the ground so that it loses all its advantages than to turn it into solely into a manufacturer of CPUs for Apple’s devices. Apple simply sells too small a share of the market (and does quite well at it). I don’t see a specific advantage for Apple in owning ARM Holdings, compared to their other acquisitions. On the other hand, ARM Holdings would be a great company to own these days just in general.
@spazbite
** facepalm **
Apple +AMD = interesting – except I like AMD Chips and it would be sad not to be able to build computers with AMD anymore. Then we have Intel free to gouge us with prices because Apple will be free to concentrate on chips for its products only….great…. Apple + ARM = interesting disaster. Apple will be free to say – “hi licensees, remember those agreements where you could use our technology….yeah we aren’t going to renew that. K, bye.” So then Intel (who is already making a play for the MID market) gets to slip in……awesome…. Peachy all around.
If this is in the realm of possibility, then I’m sure the anti-trust regulators would have something to say about it. I don’t see how Apple could buy the chip maker (and I’m assuming patent owner, or maybe just a significant number of the ARM patents) that it and essentially all its other competitors use without some sort of significant concessions.
Hmm.. interesting..
As long as they give us the fastest processor they have available now on for mobile devices that would be sweet.
@Jorge
Yes, Apple was one of the three founding organizations of ARM Holdings, but they sold off (much of? all of?) their stake when they (Apple) was floundering.
@frog / @applejosh
Actually restricting sales to competitors (or even some types of preferential pricing) would be a pretty clear violation of the Clayton Act. (wikipedia: http://tinyurl.com/28z5nsc ) Even if the US DOJ did not pursue on those grounds, buying ARM to restrict its sales would have an adverse impact on a UK-held company, so I would bet UK and/or EU regulators would have a strong motivation to step in under their analogous statutes. Of course, Apple would have to honor existing ARM hardware and IP licenses, which may be structured to prevent any of these shenanigans in the first place.
However, Apple does not have to stop selling to send shockwaves through competitors. The purchase itself would make ARM licenses/Apple competitors nervous about ARM’s roadmap and pace of innovation. Just as Jobs does not want to be beholden to Flash on the software side, Google/HTC/Microsoft/Palm are not going to want to be beholden to the whims of Apple on the the hardware side. Intel or somebody else will be happy to step into that niche, but that that niche would take a while to fill, and restructuring products to use a different architecture will further set them back a bit.
8 billion and inviting regulators to your doorstep seems to me a pretty hefty price to pay for that. If this is more than a rumor, the only way it would make sense is if Apple absolutely needs to do something with the ARM architecture its IP licenses currently will not allow, and can see no way around it.
I guess this is why blogs are not considered news media, they take anything and run with it. Next we will hear how Apple is buying a small country.
Apple is buying a small and a medium sized country.
Apple should buy AMD because my portfolio would love that. I can see why Apple would buy ARM alot of people first look at the fact that ARM chips power devices running Android and Palm. However you have to think about it from a business perspective it’s good if they power Android and Palm, if Apple bought ARM it doesn’t mean they would no longer make for those devices it means Apple would be making money no matter which smartphone had the largest share. Just like when you have a portfolio and you buy both Apple and Microsoft stocks because they will both move higher but if one wins out over the other you are still on the winning end of the stick instead of having a 50/50 shot depending on the outcome.