Apple reportedly closes Anobit purchase for $400M to $500M
Apple is said to have finalized its acquisition of flash memory maker Anobit, with the final price coming in between $400 million and $500 million.
Employees at Anobit were said to have been recently informed about the finalized deal, according to Hebrew-language newspaper Calcalist. The final price remains unknown, but could be as much as a half-billion dollars.
The reported goal of Apple's acquisition of Anobit is to increase the amount of memory in its portable devices, like the iPhone, iPad and MacBook Air, as well as to improve the reliability of solid-state memory.
Apple is now expected to build a development center in Haifa, where Intel, Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and Qualcomm also have facilities. The Anobit purchase is believed to be the first acquisition for Apple with Tim Cook as CEO.
Rumors of a deal between Apple and Anobit first surfaced a week ago from the same source. Anobit is a 200-employee Israeli fabless semiconductor company that specializes in flash storage, and Apple is said to be particularly interested in the company's proprietary memory signal processing technology.
Anobit has about 100 pending and granted patents, and was first founded in 2006. A $500 million purchase price would be about 7 times the $80 million it has raised in invested capital, as noted by ISI Group analyst Brian Marshall.
Apple's alleged purchase of Anobit also comes as the company is rumored to be planning to build a semiconductor development center in Israel. That facility would be Apple's first strategic development center located outside of the company's Cupertino, Calif., headquarters.
Employees at Anobit were said to have been recently informed about the finalized deal, according to Hebrew-language newspaper Calcalist. The final price remains unknown, but could be as much as a half-billion dollars.
The reported goal of Apple's acquisition of Anobit is to increase the amount of memory in its portable devices, like the iPhone, iPad and MacBook Air, as well as to improve the reliability of solid-state memory.
Apple is now expected to build a development center in Haifa, where Intel, Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and Qualcomm also have facilities. The Anobit purchase is believed to be the first acquisition for Apple with Tim Cook as CEO.
Rumors of a deal between Apple and Anobit first surfaced a week ago from the same source. Anobit is a 200-employee Israeli fabless semiconductor company that specializes in flash storage, and Apple is said to be particularly interested in the company's proprietary memory signal processing technology.
Anobit has about 100 pending and granted patents, and was first founded in 2006. A $500 million purchase price would be about 7 times the $80 million it has raised in invested capital, as noted by ISI Group analyst Brian Marshall.
Apple's alleged purchase of Anobit also comes as the company is rumored to be planning to build a semiconductor development center in Israel. That facility would be Apple's first strategic development center located outside of the company's Cupertino, Calif., headquarters.
Comments
There goes forward-thinking Apple again. Great!
It will take hindsight to prove if this was a good idea. They can certainly afford it, though.
Now if a few people in the previous thread about this topic are not bald faced liars, they will immediately commence with their boycott of Apple.
So, is Apple going to build its own flash storage?
No, I believe this is about the controllers, not the memory.
And controllers are pretty important when it comes to flash storage.
Good news! Apple is getting the best cutting edge technology.
Now if a few people in the previous thread about this topic are not bald faced liars, they will immediately commence with their boycott of Apple.
+1. Awe hell, +100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000....
Apple can now stop Samsung and everybody else from using the technology in their devices. Apple shouldn't license the tech out to anybody else, Apple should keep it all to itself, have it exclusive only in Apple devices.
Apple is said to have finalized its acquisition of flash memory maker Anobit, with the final price coming in between $400 million and $500 million....
"between $400 million and $500 million" is business speak for ... $500 million.
The memory patents will be a huge thorn into the competition's sides and Apple will most certainly not license them.
It seems like that is the motivation, speculating of course. I guess the question is; if the company already has lisence deals can Apple null and void them? Essentially killing the competition.
It seems like that is the motivation, speculating of course. I guess the question is; if the company already has lisence deals can Apple null and void them? Essentially killing the competition.
A contract is a contract. It would turn the world upside down if contracts were nullified by changes in the executive suite. They just don't have to license anything new to the competition.
SJ said it well ages ago?just because we're competitors doesn't mean we have to be rude.
Apple seems to adhere to the principle of fair play
Apple is said to have finalized its acquisition of flash memory maker Anobit, with the final price coming in between $400 million and $500 million.
Flash memory designer - Anobit is fabless, as stated later in the article...
"between $400 million and $500 million" is business speak for ... $500 million.
Except that the transaction was done in New Israel Shekels, so there is no reason it would be a nice round amount in US$. Two billion shekels would be a little more than $500m, so it was probably between 1.6B 1.9B shekels. Who knows, who cares (except the Anobit investors of course). For Apple, $100M here or there hardly makes a difference. :-)
A contract is a contract. It would turn the world upside down if contracts were nullified by changes in the executive suite. They just don't have to license anything new to the competition.
SJ said it well ages ago?just because we're competitors doesn't mean we have to be rude.
Apple seems to adhere to the principle of fair play
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.
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.
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.
<Except that the transaction was done in New Israel Shekels>
i think that it was done in usa dollars. i think that you should recheck your numbers.
the purchase was the largest acquisition purchase that apple has ever consumated. they recently raised $76+ million. their list of employees that come with the purchase is a like a technology who's who.
good news! Apple is getting the best cutting edge technology.
Now if a few people in the previous thread about this topic are not bald faced liars, they will immediately commence with their boycott of apple.
+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!
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.
Samsung owns lots and lots of patents on methods to make Apple chips efficiently.
If, for example, you were to be put in charge of Apple's machines in that building, would you have the first idea of how to make chips for Apple? Samsung knows how. Indeed, they have patented methods for doing it well.
Apple cannot get its chips without Samsung's know-how. Without Samsung's expertise, Apple products would cost more.