Reuters reports that Motorola will spin off the division into a publicly traded company. This may be a good thing. Perhaps Apple could become a large stockholder. Discuss.
If IBM bought Mot SPS they could gain some nice IP, an investment in the Crolles facility, some cool fab tech, and dominance in the automotive processor market.
They might also gain the attention of the DoJ, but only after Ashcroft steps down.
Steve Jobs said (re: I believe in the 3rd quarter financial report conference call with reporters) something to the effect that some day he would discuss Apple's relationship with Motorola.
Well, that day may soon be coming.
I wonder how this will play out.
Motorola Semiconductor survives independently during the IPO process?
Interesting - Phillips or ST Microelectronics possible purchasers, in light of Motorola's recent partnering with them with the Crolles facility? I believe I read that Phillips and Apple have some common ground in technologies - Rendezvous?
hmmm, gives pause - IBM buying Motorola's Semiconductor division, why? They would only be protecting investment in PPC ISA? They certainly don't need the R&D or fabs? Increase presence in embedded market??
naw, not likely - AMD? They have indicated they would like to increase product levels into the embedded market, hedge against Intel?? ISA would be a problem, but who knows??
off the wall - TI, what would Texas Instruments gain?
Needless to say, it appears that Motorola is exercising their right to buy high and sell low. I can't imagine that they will get any where near what they've invested in semiconductors in this economic climate.
Steve Jobs said (re: I believe in the 3rd quarter financial report conference call with reporters) something to the effect that some day he would discuss Apple's relationship with Motorola.
Well, that day may soon be coming.
Interesting observation. That means Steve knew which way the wind was blowing at Mot for some time (hell, he probably led the push to get Galvin out).
Quote:
Interesting - Phillips or ST Microelectronics possible purchasers, in light of Motorola's recent partnering with them with the Crolles facility? I believe I read that Phillips and Apple have some common ground in technologies - Rendezvous?
Also interesting. Philips is investing a great deal in standards right now - especially now that their CD format is being diluted and perverted by content publishers - so they have a natural kinship with the New Apple. Rendezvous and MPEG-4 and Bluetooth and 802.11b/g are all of interest to Philips.
I could see Philips and/or STM buying large chunks of SPS (which I don't believe will last long on its own, not now). Apple might buy enough to establish a formal interest, although IBM will watch that carefully and so will Fred Anderson ("I have to manage whose stocks now?!").
Or, the people who want what SPS offers can just leave it to fend for itself and then pick over its carcass when it dies. The one hope SPS has is that their market is (finally!) picking up again. And they'll be free of the leaden grip of Mot managment.
This Motorola discussion reminds me of the Conventional Wisdom going around at the end of the Gil Amelio era at Apple. There are Real Smart People at Motorola. Given competent management, they may yet have a chance to shine.
I could definatily see Apple purchasing the company. For a couple of reasons.
1) Back-up plan. In case things tank bad with IBM (not likely, but it is always nice to have a backup plan), they have alternatives.
2) Copyrights. The IP rights to "AltiVec" would be very beneficial. They could tweak that to make it more for Apple than anyone else.
3) Additional revenue stream. If anyone can manage a company, it is Steve Jobs. He could make them very profitable, all the while making them industry leaders in innovation.
4) Full-blooded partnership with IBM. Taking parts of the fabbing process away from IBM, all the while paying royalties for each chip, could make this into a very healthy relationship for both IBM and Apple.
These are just some quick thoughts. There are just as many (if not more) for Apple to not to buy. However, I ask what would be in their best interest?
I could definatily see Apple purchasing the company. For a couple of reasons.
None of which were outlined in the original post
Quote:
1) not likely, but it is always nice to have a backup plan), they have alternatives.
The backup plan is x86. Not too good of a plan. You can't just keep the whole Moto semiconductor division in a closet making good contingency plans for Apple- they cost too much.
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2) Copyrights. The IP rights to "AltiVec" would be very beneficial. They could tweak that to make it more for Apple than anyone else.
You could buy these seperately from MOTO. Heck, you could joint license the IP and this would get you the benefits witout as much cost. The probelm with tweaking altivec is that it makes an altivec 2.0 and you have to get the programmers to support it as well as IBM in any forthcoming chips. Too much work for too little payoff.
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3) Additional revenue stream. If anyone can manage a company, it is Steve Jobs. He could make them very profitable, all the while making them industry leaders in innovation.
Moto does make good embedded CPUs, but for cars, not computers. Ok, that is an overexageration, but it is true. Besides, Moto is selling the division because it is losing money, meaning that it would drain Apple of money. Steve is already the CEO of two companies- he doesn't need a third.
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4) Full-blooded partnership with IBM. Taking parts of the fabbing process away from IBM, all the while paying royalties for each chip, could make this into a very healthy relationship for both IBM and Apple.
Ummmm... heck no?
Moto's fabs suck. That is the whole reason why they can't make faster G4's. IBM's FABs are state of the art. That is why they can make fast G5's. This would KILL the relationship between Apple and IBM and would be a loose/loose deal. No stinking way it would happen. Apple does NOT want to get into the FAB business.
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These are just some quick thoughts. There are just as many (if not more) for Apple to not to buy. However, I ask what would be in their best interest?
Here is what will REALLY happen:
IBM hires all the disgruntled engineers who actually know what they are doing. Moto's semiconductor division undergoes a brain drain that it can't ever recover from. This is a GOOD thing for Mac users as IBM will undoubtedly cherrypick the best PPC hardware engineers from Moto and so Apple gets the best of both worlds: the smartest Moto engineers in a competent company that actually wants to make high end desktop CPUs. Steve Jobs feasts on the livers of Motorola's board of directors and burns the voodoo dolls he made of them.
If this is true keep in mind that it will be a publicly traded company. No one company can buy whole think outright and no one company can pick off the IP for themselves. For that to happen it would have to be an agreement with the new company and something that would not happen.
i think it will come out someday that something more than incompetence was going on at MOT's semi-conductor division.
now that Apple is on it's way down the road, and the CEO who knows where all the bodies are buried is gone, and the unholy alliance with MSFT for celphones is public knowledge -
NOW? now it's time to have market forces whip this division into shape? now it's time to let investment capital come in and make the company stronger?
...... and the unholy alliance with MSFT for celphones is public knowledge - ......it smells like sleeps with the fishes to me.
Just curious, besides the computer assemblers of the world(re: Dell, Compac, etc.), what other companies have flourished in an alliance with Microsoft? I believe Sun got burned, Novelle got screwed, on and on and on. I believe Motorola needs to watch their back in this partnership.
Comments
Screed ...oh come on, somebody had to say it!
They might also gain the attention of the DoJ, but only after Ashcroft steps down.
Screed
Originally posted by Derrick 61
moronola
Hey! I trademarked this thing!!!!!! No one can use it without my permission!
Well, that day may soon be coming.
I wonder how this will play out.
Motorola Semiconductor survives independently during the IPO process?
Interesting - Phillips or ST Microelectronics possible purchasers, in light of Motorola's recent partnering with them with the Crolles facility? I believe I read that Phillips and Apple have some common ground in technologies - Rendezvous?
hmmm, gives pause - IBM buying Motorola's Semiconductor division, why? They would only be protecting investment in PPC ISA? They certainly don't need the R&D or fabs? Increase presence in embedded market??
naw, not likely - AMD? They have indicated they would like to increase product levels into the embedded market, hedge against Intel?? ISA would be a problem, but who knows??
off the wall - TI, what would Texas Instruments gain?
Needless to say, it appears that Motorola is exercising their right to buy high and sell low. I can't imagine that they will get any where near what they've invested in semiconductors in this economic climate.
Originally posted by rickag
Steve Jobs said (re: I believe in the 3rd quarter financial report conference call with reporters) something to the effect that some day he would discuss Apple's relationship with Motorola.
Well, that day may soon be coming.
Interesting observation. That means Steve knew which way the wind was blowing at Mot for some time (hell, he probably led the push to get Galvin out).
Interesting - Phillips or ST Microelectronics possible purchasers, in light of Motorola's recent partnering with them with the Crolles facility? I believe I read that Phillips and Apple have some common ground in technologies - Rendezvous?
Also interesting. Philips is investing a great deal in standards right now - especially now that their CD format is being diluted and perverted by content publishers - so they have a natural kinship with the New Apple. Rendezvous and MPEG-4 and Bluetooth and 802.11b/g are all of interest to Philips.
I could see Philips and/or STM buying large chunks of SPS (which I don't believe will last long on its own, not now). Apple might buy enough to establish a formal interest, although IBM will watch that carefully and so will Fred Anderson ("I have to manage whose stocks now?!").
Or, the people who want what SPS offers can just leave it to fend for itself and then pick over its carcass when it dies. The one hope SPS has is that their market is (finally!) picking up again. And they'll be free of the leaden grip of Mot managment.
1) Back-up plan. In case things tank bad with IBM (not likely, but it is always nice to have a backup plan), they have alternatives.
2) Copyrights. The IP rights to "AltiVec" would be very beneficial. They could tweak that to make it more for Apple than anyone else.
3) Additional revenue stream. If anyone can manage a company, it is Steve Jobs. He could make them very profitable, all the while making them industry leaders in innovation.
4) Full-blooded partnership with IBM. Taking parts of the fabbing process away from IBM, all the while paying royalties for each chip, could make this into a very healthy relationship for both IBM and Apple.
These are just some quick thoughts. There are just as many (if not more) for Apple to not to buy. However, I ask what would be in their best interest?
I should move this to General Discussion.
BTW: Hector Ruiz, the head of AMD, was formerly the head of Motorola SPS. He's also widely suspected of running it into the ground.
Originally posted by Mike Eggleston
I could definatily see Apple purchasing the company. For a couple of reasons.
None of which were outlined in the original post
1) not likely, but it is always nice to have a backup plan), they have alternatives.
The backup plan is x86. Not too good of a plan. You can't just keep the whole Moto semiconductor division in a closet making good contingency plans for Apple- they cost too much.
2) Copyrights. The IP rights to "AltiVec" would be very beneficial. They could tweak that to make it more for Apple than anyone else.
You could buy these seperately from MOTO. Heck, you could joint license the IP and this would get you the benefits witout as much cost. The probelm with tweaking altivec is that it makes an altivec 2.0 and you have to get the programmers to support it as well as IBM in any forthcoming chips. Too much work for too little payoff.
3) Additional revenue stream. If anyone can manage a company, it is Steve Jobs. He could make them very profitable, all the while making them industry leaders in innovation.
Moto does make good embedded CPUs, but for cars, not computers. Ok, that is an overexageration, but it is true. Besides, Moto is selling the division because it is losing money, meaning that it would drain Apple of money. Steve is already the CEO of two companies- he doesn't need a third.
4) Full-blooded partnership with IBM. Taking parts of the fabbing process away from IBM, all the while paying royalties for each chip, could make this into a very healthy relationship for both IBM and Apple.
Ummmm... heck no?
Moto's fabs suck. That is the whole reason why they can't make faster G4's. IBM's FABs are state of the art. That is why they can make fast G5's. This would KILL the relationship between Apple and IBM and would be a loose/loose deal. No stinking way it would happen. Apple does NOT want to get into the FAB business.
These are just some quick thoughts. There are just as many (if not more) for Apple to not to buy. However, I ask what would be in their best interest?
Here is what will REALLY happen:
IBM hires all the disgruntled engineers who actually know what they are doing. Moto's semiconductor division undergoes a brain drain that it can't ever recover from. This is a GOOD thing for Mac users as IBM will undoubtedly cherrypick the best PPC hardware engineers from Moto and so Apple gets the best of both worlds: the smartest Moto engineers in a competent company that actually wants to make high end desktop CPUs. Steve Jobs feasts on the livers of Motorola's board of directors and burns the voodoo dolls he made of them.
As for the fab, nah, they are too old anyway....waste of money
now that Apple is on it's way down the road, and the CEO who knows where all the bodies are buried is gone, and the unholy alliance with MSFT for celphones is public knowledge -
NOW? now it's time to have market forces whip this division into shape? now it's time to let investment capital come in and make the company stronger?
i dunno.
it smells like sleeps with the fishes to me.
Originally posted by bluesigns
...... and the unholy alliance with MSFT for celphones is public knowledge - ......it smells like sleeps with the fishes to me.
Just curious, besides the computer assemblers of the world(re: Dell, Compac, etc.), what other companies have flourished in an alliance with Microsoft? I believe Sun got burned, Novelle got screwed, on and on and on. I believe Motorola needs to watch their back in this partnership.