Apple is an interesting company. They manufacture virtually nothing, nor do they directly manage the manufacturing of anything. Instead, they design products, create new technologies, and then sell and market products to consumers.
Apple is an innovator but what did it invent? The smartphone? The tablet? The MP3 player? Just thinking out loud myself.
Apple is an interesting company. They manufacture virtually nothing, nor do they directly manage the manufacturing of anything. Instead, they design products, create new technologies, and then sell and market products to consumers.
The risk to Apple is that their contract manufacturers can turn around and compete with Apple. But if Apple owns the designs, the underlying technology, and owns the capital equipment used by those contractors, then what do those contractors really bring to the table? Just labor and the direct management of that labor. And those things are not enough to compete with Apple.
I wonder who paid for the equipment in that Samsung Austin chip facility. Would be interesting if Apple owns everything in that building and Samsung is just providing labor and management skills.
It's just amazing how delusional some Apple fans are.
Apple is a marketing / product integration / consumer electronics company - Apple dropped "computer" from its corporate logo years back. As this Anobit acquisition shows, Apple doesn't create / design the underlying technology, they either buy, license, or outsource them. Furthermore, Anobit's patent portfolio is quite insignificant - the real tech / manufacturing companies that create, own all the underlying technology like Toshiba, Samsung spend billions in R&D and some more billions in building fabs.
It's just amazing how delusional some Apple fans are.
Apple is a marketing / product integration / consumer electronics company - Apple dropped "computer" from its corporate logo years back. As this Anobit acquisition shows, Apple doesn't create / design the underlying technology, they either buy, license, or outsource them.
This acquisition shows no such thing. Apple has always developed custom ICs and now they are taking that a step further by designing the A4 and A5. True, those chips are based on reference designs -- Apple isn't starting from scratch. But almost nobody starts from scratch these days on anything -- why would they?
Furthermore, Apple develops their own OS, both for Macs and iDevices. Are you telling me that OSX and iOS are identical to NeXTStep and that Apple has made no meaningful contribution to the codebase since that acquisition?
You seem to implicitly be defining "invent" and "technology" in an incredibly narrow, practically useless way in order to snipe at Apple.
The reality is that Apple employs primarily the following types of people (beyond the common corporate bureaucracy that is common to all large companies):
It's just amazing how delusional some Apple fans are.
Apple is a marketing / product integration / consumer electronics company - Apple dropped "computer" from its corporate logo years back. As this Anobit acquisition shows, Apple doesn't create / design the underlying technology, they either buy, license, or outsource them. Furthermore, Anobit's patent portfolio is quite insignificant - the real tech / manufacturing companies that create, own all the underlying technology like Toshiba, Samsung spend billions in R&D and some more billions in building fabs.
Apple does not create or design the underlying technology? Who did they buy, license MacOS or iOS from? Sure, some components are outsourced, or in-licensed (or takes advantage of open source), but the essence is developed inside Apple. Even in hardware, Apple does a fair bit of design, development and creation in-house, from the chips outward.
Yes, Apple fans can be delusional. In this case, the delusion is all yours.
Apple should be investing in R&D to develop these technologies internally in the US rather than wasting so much money on this pile of crap Anobit. I'm disgusted with Tim Cook. He's clearly not the right man to lead Apple going forward.
Apple should be investing in R&D to develop these technologies internally in the US rather than wasting so much money on this pile of crap Anobit. I'm disgusted with Tim Cook. He's clearly not the right man to lead Apple going forward.
I'm sure this acquisition was decided upon months, if not a year or so prior to Steve's death.
Whew! Now to find another 160 companies like it to buy to soak up that cash! Oh unless you wait 3 months. Then you need to find another 180 instead. Get cracking!
Apple should be investing in R&D to develop these technologies internally in the US rather than wasting so much money on this pile of crap Anobit. I'm disgusted with Tim Cook. He's clearly not the right man to lead Apple going forward.
Please explain why Anobit is a pile of crap? I'm sure we'd all like to know.
I don't particularly see any value in prohibiting others from licensing the technology. Apple has the advantage of owning the IP and employing the talent. They should be able to eventually integrate the Anobit technology right into their SoC reducing another component in the chain.
I see this as Apple just moving more vertical and slowly but surely preparing for the future pricing pressure by developing even more integrated solutions that all but the largest competitors cannot.
Apple should be investing in R&D to develop these technologies internally in the US rather than wasting so much money on this pile of crap Anobit. I'm disgusted with Tim Cook. He's clearly not the right man to lead Apple going forward.
Because you're clearly better informed on the state of Apple's business than the CEO....
And by the way, to those who wonder if the deal was done in Shekels or $US, I can guarantee, 99.99%, that it was done in $US.
I am an Israeli and have worked for a long time in the Israeli-IT sector. Israeli Tech firms don't work in Shekels unless it is about Salaries or if they purchase something from the local Israeli market.
Just so you know what the reality of Israeli-IT is with regards to US firms - they are here all the time, looking for the next technology / company / team to purchase and integrate. Launching cutting edge IT companies is something Israelis excel at and US firms harvest the latest and greatest on a usual basis. It is quite surprising it took Apple such a long time to arrive here but we are very happy they finally did. Welcome Apple!
Good to know. Thanks. I don't know where I got the idea that it wouldn't be a US dollar transaction. At least of the articles said something like "when converted to US dollars" so I made a (bad) assumption.
My point was that whether this was a $400MM deal or a $500MM is not all that interesting. It's a BIG deal in any case (at least on nominal dollars bigger than Apple's acquisition of NeXT). Assuming the 200 employee count is right, basically Apple just bought a couple hundred people for a little more than $2 million each.
Apple should be investing in R&D to develop these technologies internally in the US rather than wasting so much money on this pile of crap Anobit. I'm disgusted with Tim Cook. He's clearly not the right man to lead Apple going forward.
Anobit isn't a "pile of crap" as you so eloquently put it. Anobit has actually got some amazing tech regarding the extending of the life of flash/NAND cells etc.
You have a strange mindset. Good job you aren't running Apple.
Flash memory designer - Anobit is fabless, as stated later in the article...
I really don't see Apple making this technology exclusive as there would be little point and no economic gain doing so. For Apple to really benefit they need to derive income from this technology and licensing is the right way to do that.
The other thing people don't seem to realize is that Apple has its own flash technology patents. So this is only adding to Apples portfolio.
I suspect the big value for Apple is that this gives them a foothold in Isreal. They now have a proven management team there to build an engineering center with. Apple likely sees only limited value in flash technology, which is to be replaced in a couple of years. Instead this expands their access to people capable of working at the electron device level.
There are always termination clauses in contracts, usually with penalties. The question is whether Apple can live with the penalty or perhaps even better, negotiate new terms favorable to Apple.
I'm thinking about what is in Apples best interest. Cheap reliable flash is very much in their best interest so I can't see them taking this technology off the market. It would be like trying to corner the DRAM market. Instead it is far better to spread the technology widely to push prices lower.
Quote:
And I'm sure prior to the closing of the deal, Apple's legal team did their due diligence and reviewed all contractual and legal obligations of Anobit. Having been a contracts manager this is standard practice for any merger or acquisition.
Well one is left with the impression that managers at Apple simply whip out the check book on a whim and purchase a company. At least if you believe people's thoughts in this forum. Not only would Apple look at past responsibilities, they would also take a good close look at what is coming from Anobit, a close look at the team to see if they fit with future plans and other factors. I just don't see this as a short term investment on Apples part. Flash isn't the long term future, so there has to be something they saw in Anobits capabilities that drove them to make the purchase.
Very smart move. Move away from those Asian companies like Samsung. Having to rely on companies like them exposes your RD work. We all know how those Asian companies run their business. Copy and violate ip is a normal sop for them. Google quickl learned the benefits of doing that same business model.
Comments
Just thinking out loud...
Apple is an interesting company. They manufacture virtually nothing, nor do they directly manage the manufacturing of anything. Instead, they design products, create new technologies, and then sell and market products to consumers.
Apple is an innovator but what did it invent? The smartphone? The tablet? The MP3 player? Just thinking out loud myself.
Just thinking out loud...
Apple is an interesting company. They manufacture virtually nothing, nor do they directly manage the manufacturing of anything. Instead, they design products, create new technologies, and then sell and market products to consumers.
The risk to Apple is that their contract manufacturers can turn around and compete with Apple. But if Apple owns the designs, the underlying technology, and owns the capital equipment used by those contractors, then what do those contractors really bring to the table? Just labor and the direct management of that labor. And those things are not enough to compete with Apple.
I wonder who paid for the equipment in that Samsung Austin chip facility. Would be interesting if Apple owns everything in that building and Samsung is just providing labor and management skills.
It's just amazing how delusional some Apple fans are.
Apple is a marketing / product integration / consumer electronics company - Apple dropped "computer" from its corporate logo years back. As this Anobit acquisition shows, Apple doesn't create / design the underlying technology, they either buy, license, or outsource them. Furthermore, Anobit's patent portfolio is quite insignificant - the real tech / manufacturing companies that create, own all the underlying technology like Toshiba, Samsung spend billions in R&D and some more billions in building fabs.
It's just amazing how delusional some Apple fans are.
Apple is a marketing / product integration / consumer electronics company - Apple dropped "computer" from its corporate logo years back. As this Anobit acquisition shows, Apple doesn't create / design the underlying technology, they either buy, license, or outsource them.
This acquisition shows no such thing. Apple has always developed custom ICs and now they are taking that a step further by designing the A4 and A5. True, those chips are based on reference designs -- Apple isn't starting from scratch. But almost nobody starts from scratch these days on anything -- why would they?
Furthermore, Apple develops their own OS, both for Macs and iDevices. Are you telling me that OSX and iOS are identical to NeXTStep and that Apple has made no meaningful contribution to the codebase since that acquisition?
You seem to implicitly be defining "invent" and "technology" in an incredibly narrow, practically useless way in order to snipe at Apple.
The reality is that Apple employs primarily the following types of people (beyond the common corporate bureaucracy that is common to all large companies):
designers, software engineers, hardware engineers, retail staff
They don't employ factory line workers or the people who manage factory line workers.
That's basically the only point I was making, but you had to try and twist it to fit in your puny little way of looking at the world. You kinda suck.
"between $400 million and $500 million" is business speak for ... $500 million.
Generally, I'd agree. In this case, I'd say this is blogger speak for $rumored_amount.
It's just amazing how delusional some Apple fans are.
Apple is a marketing / product integration / consumer electronics company - Apple dropped "computer" from its corporate logo years back. As this Anobit acquisition shows, Apple doesn't create / design the underlying technology, they either buy, license, or outsource them. Furthermore, Anobit's patent portfolio is quite insignificant - the real tech / manufacturing companies that create, own all the underlying technology like Toshiba, Samsung spend billions in R&D and some more billions in building fabs.
Apple does not create or design the underlying technology? Who did they buy, license MacOS or iOS from? Sure, some components are outsourced, or in-licensed (or takes advantage of open source), but the essence is developed inside Apple. Even in hardware, Apple does a fair bit of design, development and creation in-house, from the chips outward.
Yes, Apple fans can be delusional. In this case, the delusion is all yours.
Apple is an innovator but what did it invent? The smartphone? The tablet? The MP3 player? Just thinking out loud myself.
Perhaps Apple did not invent any of these product categories. But it sure as hell reinvented them. Even their competitors concede this. Even I do.
Apple is an innovator but what did it invent? The smartphone? The tablet? The MP3 player? Just thinking out loud myself.
Exactly as the post above stated. Apple did not invent these things, they redefined them.
Apple should be investing in R&D to develop these technologies internally in the US rather than wasting so much money on this pile of crap Anobit. I'm disgusted with Tim Cook. He's clearly not the right man to lead Apple going forward.
I'm sure this acquisition was decided upon months, if not a year or so prior to Steve's death.
Apple should be investing in R&D to develop these technologies internally in the US rather than wasting so much money on this pile of crap Anobit. I'm disgusted with Tim Cook. He's clearly not the right man to lead Apple going forward.
Please explain why Anobit is a pile of crap? I'm sure we'd all like to know.
I don't particularly see any value in prohibiting others from licensing the technology. Apple has the advantage of owning the IP and employing the talent. They should be able to eventually integrate the Anobit technology right into their SoC reducing another component in the chain.
I see this as Apple just moving more vertical and slowly but surely preparing for the future pricing pressure by developing even more integrated solutions that all but the largest competitors cannot.
Apple should be investing in R&D to develop these technologies internally in the US rather than wasting so much money on this pile of crap Anobit. I'm disgusted with Tim Cook. He's clearly not the right man to lead Apple going forward.
Because you're clearly better informed on the state of Apple's business than the CEO....
+1
And by the way, to those who wonder if the deal was done in Shekels or $US, I can guarantee, 99.99%, that it was done in $US.
I am an Israeli and have worked for a long time in the Israeli-IT sector. Israeli Tech firms don't work in Shekels unless it is about Salaries or if they purchase something from the local Israeli market.
Just so you know what the reality of Israeli-IT is with regards to US firms - they are here all the time, looking for the next technology / company / team to purchase and integrate. Launching cutting edge IT companies is something Israelis excel at and US firms harvest the latest and greatest on a usual basis. It is quite surprising it took Apple such a long time to arrive here but we are very happy they finally did. Welcome Apple!
Good to know. Thanks. I don't know where I got the idea that it wouldn't be a US dollar transaction. At least of the articles said something like "when converted to US dollars" so I made a (bad) assumption.
My point was that whether this was a $400MM deal or a $500MM is not all that interesting. It's a BIG deal in any case (at least on nominal dollars bigger than Apple's acquisition of NeXT). Assuming the 200 employee count is right, basically Apple just bought a couple hundred people for a little more than $2 million each.
Apple is an innovator but what did it invent? The smartphone? The tablet? The MP3 player? Just thinking out loud myself.
Who said anything about INVENTING. Oh, you! The original poster said interesting, which is not directly related to invention. Troll somewhere else.
Apple should be investing in R&D to develop these technologies internally in the US rather than wasting so much money on this pile of crap Anobit. I'm disgusted with Tim Cook. He's clearly not the right man to lead Apple going forward.
Anobit isn't a "pile of crap" as you so eloquently put it. Anobit has actually got some amazing tech regarding the extending of the life of flash/NAND cells etc.
You have a strange mindset. Good job you aren't running Apple.
Flash memory designer - Anobit is fabless, as stated later in the article...
I really don't see Apple making this technology exclusive as there would be little point and no economic gain doing so. For Apple to really benefit they need to derive income from this technology and licensing is the right way to do that.
The other thing people don't seem to realize is that Apple has its own flash technology patents. So this is only adding to Apples portfolio.
I suspect the big value for Apple is that this gives them a foothold in Isreal. They now have a proven management team there to build an engineering center with. Apple likely sees only limited value in flash technology, which is to be replaced in a couple of years. Instead this expands their access to people capable of working at the electron device level.
There are always termination clauses in contracts, usually with penalties. The question is whether Apple can live with the penalty or perhaps even better, negotiate new terms favorable to Apple.
I'm thinking about what is in Apples best interest. Cheap reliable flash is very much in their best interest so I can't see them taking this technology off the market. It would be like trying to corner the DRAM market. Instead it is far better to spread the technology widely to push prices lower.
And I'm sure prior to the closing of the deal, Apple's legal team did their due diligence and reviewed all contractual and legal obligations of Anobit. Having been a contracts manager this is standard practice for any merger or acquisition.
Well one is left with the impression that managers at Apple simply whip out the check book on a whim and purchase a company. At least if you believe people's thoughts in this forum. Not only would Apple look at past responsibilities, they would also take a good close look at what is coming from Anobit, a close look at the team to see if they fit with future plans and other factors. I just don't see this as a short term investment on Apples part. Flash isn't the long term future, so there has to be something they saw in Anobits capabilities that drove them to make the purchase.
Who said anything about INVENTING. Oh, you! The original poster said interesting, which is not directly related to invention. Troll somewhere else.
The original poster, Blastdoor, said Apple "creates new technologies."
Go troll somewhere else yourself, poser.