Texas Instruments Buys National Semiconductor For $6.5B
CWmike writes "Texas Instruments on Monday announced it has agreed to acquire semiconductor company National Semiconductor for $6.5 billion in an all-cash transaction. TI, which makes low-power chips, said it would combine its 30,000 analog products and advanced manufacturing capabilities with the offerings of National Semiconductor, which makes analog integrated circuits. The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions, and is expected to close in six to nine months, the companies said in a joint statement. Look out, [chip maker name here]?"
dammmmmmm
Now they can add new stuff to a new line of graphing calculators! Like, uh...
So, does this mean that TI prices will be even higher than that of before?
Get ready to bend over. Chip prices to skyrocket.
is the sound of thousands of laser printers firing up, and spitting out epic number of resumes
Lawyers, MBA's, RIAA? A jedi fears not these things!
The inventor of Floobydust bites the dust. I shall mourn the loss.
BTW, Floobydust: a contemporary term derived from the archaic Latin miscellaneous, whose disputed history probably springs from Greek origins (influenced, of course by Egyptian linguists) - meaning here "a mixed bag." - National Semiconductor Audio Handbook
Dear valued customer,
I am excited to let you know that TI has signed a definitive agreement to purchase National Semiconductor, uniting two industry leaders that have a common commitment to solving your analog needs. I want to reinforce TI's commitment to you, our customer, as we merge our two companies.
This acquisition will allow us to address your analog needs with a product portfolio of unmatched breadth and depth. National's 12,000 products plus TI's 30,000 means more performance, power and packaging options when selecting the right ICs for your application. And we'll provide a common set of best-in-class online tools to make the selection and design process easier.
Our combined sales and applications team of 2,500 will be larger than any in the industry so we can provide more customers with greater face-to-face support than ever before.
Our manufacturing operations will offer more capacity to support your growth. TI's fabs and National's available capacity can enable higher production levels.
While both companies will operate independently pending the close, our goal thereafter is to make the integration process as seamless as possible. No requalification of products will be necessary since National's manufacturing sites will continue to be utilized. Part numbers from both companies will remain the same. There will be no obsolescence of products.
I'm excited about what the integration of our two companies will mean for you: an unmatched portfolio to meet your analog needs, an extensive sales and applications network to ease the design process, and manufacturing capacity to support your growth.
You can learn more about the acquisition at www.ti.com/acquire, including answers to frequently asked questions and video messages from TI leaders regarding the acquisition.
Thank you for choosing TI. I look forward to a great future together.
Just like the TI calculators. Yep, those never go down in value, always the same price since the 90s.
I'd say the price points go back to the 1970s.
A shameless plug but you can get the functionality of several dedicated handheld calculators in a single app for your smartphone these days: Perpenso Calc. Scientific, statistics, business, hex and bill/tip. You can even cherry pick the functionality you want and only pay for the "calculators" you need. Handheld calculators are going to largely become a victim of the convergence/consolidation of digital devices. Far fewer people are going to need/want the standalone handheld calculator.
Have you tried looking in preschools?
I work for National Instruments, a test & measurement / instrumentation company (http://www.ni.com), and people I mention it to already confuse us with Texas Instruments--they ask if we make calculators. It doesn't help that we're also based in Texas (Austin, not Dallas like TI). This is only going to make the confusion worse :(
Texas Instrument SN7400 quad NAND gate... I can build anything with 'em
not usually about real sex religious training exclusively, this increasingly appearing abberation is almost always the result of traumatic infant & adolescent abuse in multiple forms, even when it's clergy members. that's what we see in pre-school. the chosen ones holycost is not accurately measurable here either. babys rule now, so there's still hope. thanks?
Cool, maybe now we can get a 32016 with integrated 34010 graphics coprocessor.
National Semi, although one of the big players and a significant innovator, has a history of getting into financial trouble. Texas Instruments is a more stable operation and has always given the impression that it was run by more sensible people. If the corporate cultures are compatible, I think this move is for the best.
Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
BAE Systems completes purchase of Fairchild Imaging.
"What's the use of a good quotation if you can't change it?" - Doctor Who
TI no longer keeps stock on many chips. When the distributors run out the factory sits and waits for the orders to come in. Some of these chips have lead times of 26 weeks, half a year! You're basically screwed and have to start bargaining with brokers.
Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
Look out Zigbee
First TI popularizes auto-tune and now he enters the power management technology industry with an almost seven billion dollar buyout? This guy is AMAZING!
National had some the oldest fab equipment in the business. That place had equipment even China didn't want.
But you know what they say.
http://www.siliconvalleywatcher.com/mt/archives/2005/09/real_men_have_f.php
In GOD we trust, all others we monitor.
the point of these acquisitions is to give customers less choice and make them pay more for the same.
this is not a good trend.
and it's getting worse because the feckless govt never met a deal it didn't like no matter who it would be hurt by it.
oh, and TI LOVES to outsource engineering. but hey, engineers just need to work smarter !
Absolute statements are never true
TI has $6.5 billion in cash lying around and we're wondering why our economy is in the shitter and where all the jobs are?
Corporate tax laws should be changed so they're taxed for wealth as well as income. Maybe they could put that money to work for something besides buying out the competition.
You are welcome on my lawn.
Am I the only one still shocked that analog is pulling in this kind of cash?
http://www.kubuntu.org/
Looks like the folks at National Semiconductor... (puts on sunglasses)... cashed in their chips.
YEEEEEEEAAAAHHHHH !
In my experience National quality has always been good and TI quality has always been shakey, Does this mean National quality will tank?
Even in $100 bills, that's a whole lot of fucktons of paper.
I don't see this merger as a good sign and reaffirms my negative long-term outlook on our industry at the moment
It's a continuation of a trend that's been going on for close to a decade now.
There are so many new companies are doing mobile apps and social networking but very few new chip start ups,
such that silicon valley's looking like software valley these days.
The few that do start up die out pretty fast. It's simply too costly to make chips any more. Only the big players are able to stay around,
and even they are consolidating. In my opinion, there are no up and coming semiconductor company that's worth talking about at the moment.
Is it just because I'm out of touch with what's out there?
That's going to be a hell of a lot of suitcases.
The danger here is that there aren't too many other chip makers. TI and National Semiconductor are definitely the biggest, and I can see TI building up a bit of a monopoly in some areas quickly, or at least increasing the profit margin. Perhaps we'll see some unknown chip maker rise in a few years to even the markt.
That's a lot of suitcases.
National has gone downhill since Robert Pease retired. If you don't know who Pease is, then you probably don't know much about analog electronics. Thats all I'm saying.
"Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
TI engineers leave to form Cyrix -> National Semiconductor acquires Cyrix -> Texas Instruments acquires National Semiconductor.
(note: Cyrix's empty husk was actually sold off by National circa 1998)
Challenge accepted. :-\
So... the government takes a chunk of their assets and that encourages TI to hire more people... how exactly?
In the relevant accounting/finance sense of the term, cash refers to not only piles of physical currency but also to some other highly liquid assets such as bank account balances.
I listen to both RIAA and non-RIAA stuff if I like the music, tangential business/politics nonwithstanding.