Amazon wants to buy operations to compete with Apple Chips

Amazon wants to buy processors development activity, as did Apple for the iPad. On the agenda: the acquisition of Texas Instruments' mobile

also provides processors for smartphones and tablets, Calcalist learned 'first exposure to the world media. Amazon is currently in advanced negotiations to acquire the mobile chips from Texas Instruments, and thus may compete with the first major electronics manufacturers such as Qualcomm mobile industry, Samsung, Intel, Anbidih and Apple. If the deal into practice is expected to be priced at billions of dollars.

Texas Instruments has announced early this month that it wanted to sell its processors Division for mobile phones and tablets, and led many industry analysts to raise their eyebrows, especially after beginning to market processors for tablet Amazon Kindle Fire HD. Amazon is considered a key customer of the company, and now it turns out that she wants to make the activity an integral part of a chip.

Book retailer Barnes & Noble, Amazon's rival, is also a customer of TI (Texas Instruments) and incorporates the school on your Nook, so that the acquisition activity by Amazon can help it compete with it. However, at TI announced that they will continue to support both Barnes & Noble customers.

Some mobile chips are developed in Israel
what would become Texas Instruments activity in Israel?
Texas Instruments Israel employs approximately 300 employees in both development and operation centers located in Ra'anana and Herzliya Pituach. Israeli society is responsible for the marketing of electronic components
Assaf Gilad
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TI came to the conclusion that after many years of activity in mobile chips is not able to reach a significant market share, having success as do Hsnafdrgon Qualcomm chip, Anbidih Htgra chip or Samsung with chips it produces for itself and Apple. Texas Instruments spokeswoman, Whitney Jordi, said Calcalist "that the company is now quiet Period that" for reporting stock as part of a consistent policy that does not respond to rumors. However, she went on to elaborate about the intentions TI already been exposed to that, "As we announced, the smartphone market has become less attractive for us in the long term and we perform a re match our investment."

According to Jordi, TI intends to retain a major activity of its mobile chips division, except for smartphones and tablets activity. The company will continue to develop and maintain in processors for other products, such as chips in vehicles and industry, with industry estimates without smartphones Texas Instruments has 4,000 customers putting its sales turnover $ 400 million a year. Company estimates that ISI, the company has ten mobile customers in putting a $ 900 million each year. Overall revenues in 2011 were $ 13.7 billion.


TI hereby shut the door on a glorious past in the area, which culminated with the supply of Nokia's mobile processors when it was at its peak in the middle of the previous decade and also reduced the contraction of the former Finnish giant. In addition to various small players from China and Taiwan, Intel is also trying to get into mobile these days with chips H"atom "based on x86 technology, but at TI insist that increasing competition in the industry has led to its decision in Mobile processors.

To follow Apple

Amazon retail giant public perception and yet identified primarily with its e-commerce site, which began marketing books online and has developed an electronic department store almost any product marketed Bar - Shipping - Auto Parts and equipment to and clothing and footwear, electronics and toys. But Amazon is trying to position itself in recent years as a technology provider, for example, storage services - an activity that provided her with almost 5% of net revenues in the second quarter of the year.

Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, has always been accused of trying to imitate Steve Jobs. He tried to compete with Apple by launching a series of Kindle tablets, as well as the logic behind the acquisition of TI's chip division somewhat reminiscent acquisition made by Apple in 2008 . less than a year after launching the iPhone, Apple acquired the small semiconductor company PA Semi Silicon Valley for an undisclosed sum, and subsequently developed the series chips based on architecture A of the British company ARM.

The deal helped Apple to better control its core processors and thus provide a better performance tailored to the iPhone and later the iPad, and to better integration of all parts of the hardware available to the devices. Google also acquired a company in hardware and manufacturing devices, Motorola Mobility, although indicating that most of the motives behind this acquisition touched obtain relevant intellectual property Mobile.

An interesting angle in this respect is that PA Semi characteristics at the time was very like to TI, and the two companies have developed a chip-based technologies intellectual property of the British company ARM. TI was a major investor in PA, and considered its main production plant to the acquisition by Apple.

Amazon realized even before the launch of the Kindle tablet is unable to create the same or close to iPad capabilities at a competitive price, and therefore originally decided to go the other way: Advanced tablet is less significant, but very low price. The company understood that competition head to head Apple's hardware is almost impossible for efficient production chain of the latter, and decided on a market segment of discounted devices to increase software sales of digital books and magazines of the company. So Amazon sold Kindle units at cost. Possible purchase of the chip division will allow it to build higher quality devices and Apple compete in the category of expensive products.

Amazon's move could also be interpreted as a reaction to the anticipated launch of Apple's iPad mini - tablets with screen 7.8-inch, 9.7-inch iPad compared to normal, will compete both on your Kindle Fire and Amazon's HD mini tablet Google Nexus 7. Mini iPad will be launched next week, estimated that Apple ordered 10 million units from the current quarter. The launch will take place three days before the launch of the new operating system from Microsoft, Windows 8, designed to be spearheaded by Microsoft in mobile. Like Amazon's Kindle, the Apple iPad mini is expected to come with WiFi only and no service.

Amazon's Kindle devices are competitive in the market and sold at prices of $ 119 simplest model, and $ 199 in the category Fire HD. The price of the Google Nexus 7 also comes to $ 199. The new iPad mini device is not expected to be cheaper, while Apple's latest tablet, the new iPad is sold at $ 499.

According to research firm IDC forecast, tablet sales are expected to grow in the coming years the highest rate of all categories of electronics appliances - from 10% of all mobile devices, a rate of 13% in 2016. Texas Instruments is currently traded at a value of $ 31 billion. Texas Instruments shares and Amazon declined on Friday by 0.7%. Amazon was not given a response.

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