Slashdot Mirror
Apple Buys Israeli Flash Manufacturer
Lucas123 writes "According to published reports Apple is plunking down up to $500 million to purchase solid-state drive start-up Anobit Technologies. Even Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted about the deal congratulating Apple on its first acquisition in his country. Apple is planning to use the acquisition to set up to set up a semiconductor development center in Israel. Apple already uses NAND flash from Anobit in its iPhone, iPad and MacBook Air products, according to the reports."
Good to see some good ol' vertical integration still going on out there.
W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
- develop semiconductors? no.
- set up a semiconductor development center? no.
- set up to set up a semiconductor development center? yes!
First they just opened a new factory in Texas, now in Israel, both out of China (in case you did not read the fine print), so, is this the new trend now? No more "cheap" chips? Or maybe they are becoming too expensive? Or maybe Apple knows something that we don't? Like, China is friend no more.....
Coupled with their ARM CPU developments, I think Apple is attempting to remove their dependency on component makers such as Samsung (or at least gain some IP to use as leverage). I wouldn't be surprised if Apple starts some Flash-related patent wars in a few more years.
China doesn't tend to make things like chips. Those are almost all made somewhere else. China is more of a "final assembly" kind of space. You send them over the parts, they build the final product for cheap.
They design, they don't fab. Just like PA Semi which Apple bought earlier. Apple designs products and product components but then outsources their manufacture. They aren't interested (so far) in owning fabrication plants. They can be more agile if they can switch manufacturers as their requirements change.
Very often, people confuse simple with simplistic. The nuance is lost on most. - Clement Mok
Instant spy network created in US.
As a typical open source advocated, I am shaking my fist in anger at how successful Apple is with its proprietary technology. Why are people giving that company money when they could be using a Linux machine and playing Tux Racer instead of stupid Angry Birds??? What makes me more mad is that I've been practicing being irate at Microsoft for so long that when Apple suddenly rushed to success overnight, it's made me angry that I did nothing with my life during the 2000s except comb my exquisite neckbeard and ponytail. Doesn't Apple know that it could make more money by giving away its software and hardware for free and then charge for services? SO ANGRY RIGHT NOW AT OTHER PEOPLE'S SUCCESS. GRRRR! Everyone on Slashdot is with me, right? All together now: GRRRR!
Weren't Anobit the folks who developed the technology to make MLC flash work reliably? That's going to become critically important as people increase the density of the arrays (for SSD drives etc) - and from the way Apple has been behaving recently, I'm not sure they'd be willing to share it with Intel, Sandisk and so on.
At least they bought an Israeli Flash company and not Adobe, amirite?
(Thank you, I'm here all week.)
Good move on Apple's part- buy the developer and retain the patents for anything new and novel coming out of there, but continue to outsource the fabrication. It's everything that was good about vertical integration, minus the bad (costs of retooling, slow response times). Couple this with locked in deals with manufacturers and Apple is setting itself up for an even stronger market domination. Say what you want about them (evil, controlling, walled-garden, doo-doo heads), they're not stupid over there. And keep in mind, the company is now run by the guy who was in charge of the supply chain. We're gonna be hearing alot more stories like this in the near future. Love them or hate them, Apple is running their business very very right.
With China, you can almost forgive them. Try to mass-manufacture a shiny without involving the chinese these days... But Israel? Come on. You can find that tech other places too.
10 ?"Hello World" life was simple then
With the chinese, well... Try to mass-produce a shiny without them these days... But Israel? come on! That tech can be found other places!
10 ?"Hello World" life was simple then
Apple doesn't support Flash! ;)
Be or ben't
Not even as a fabless designer. So no, Apple doesn't use NAND flash from Anobit in any current devices.
Anobit makes NAND flash technology. Apple uses NAND which sues some of this technology in their current devices.
Additionally, I work with NAND engineers at Apple every day and so far they all deny this acquisition is even happening. They might be lying to me, as that is part of what secrecy is, but so far it looks like the deal isn't real.
Adding to the suspicion that this might not be true is that this whole thing looks like a PR move for Israel, to try to make (or further) a case for their country as an R&D location. One difficulty with that whole angle is that Netanyahu says this is Apple's first overseas engineering/R&D center but they have had one at 7 Place d'Léna in Paris for 4-5 years and I suspect they have others too.
n/t
I don't know why, but I misread the subject as:
Apple Buys Israeli Flesh Manufacturer
Most ignorance is vincible ignorance. We don't know because we don't want to know. --Aldous Huxley
Investing in a regime that has WMDs, with a long history of ethnic cleansing, and brutal racism, doesn't seem like a good move to enhance one's reputation.
Prepare for the Fox News Headlines: Apple financing potential terrorists?
I would not be shocked if this was ALL Fox News saw in this press release.
No he wouldn't! Oh no, "they" did! I think this is some sort of a fraud. Prove me wrong.
Another corporation setting base in Israel means more nails in Palestine's coffin.
Palestinians and Israelis both. Cleanse the entire Levant, from Turkey to Egypt, from the Mediterranean to the Golan Heights, with neutron bombs and wipe out every last man, woman, and child who's Israeli, Palestinian, Lebanese, or unlucky enough to be there. Kill them ALL. That's the only proven, real-world, efficient way to solve the Middle East issue.
On second thought, both sides could try to forgive each other their sins and those of their fathers, and attempt to move forward together as an example of how the Children of Abraham can overcome their differences and be a light to the world.
Nah... kill 'em all. Let Yahweh/Allah sort them all out afterwards. Then we wouldn't have to listen to them whine about each other anymore.
Apple has joined a list of other companies that have actively engaged with Israel's economy by purchasing an electronics company there for 500 million dollars, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu even remarking about the deal stating, "Welcome to Israel, Apple Inc. on your first acquisition here. I'm certain that you'll benefit from the fruit of the Israeli knowledge." Israeli apartheid gets yet another boost, this time from an apple, where there will be knowledge gained by this act. Anyone else see the irony?
They are the biggest in China, but that isn't saying much. You want big? Look at TSMC, who's IP SMIC ripped off. It's also only older tech. 45nm is the smallest they do. That's fine, but not for cutting edge products.
Plus while there's a decent market in fabs-for-order, there's a massive market in semi-conductor companies that fab their own stuff. Intel, IBM, TI, Samsung, and so on all fab their own stuff in whole or in part.
China is not big in the chips industry, at all. They do some, but nothing compared to the US or Taiwan.
What's the deal with all these astroturfing Israeli bashers?
We all know Israel is one of the most respected countries in the world.
That's why Americans always travel the world with an Israeli flag sewn on their backpacks, cuz the American know that nobody is going to spit in their soup with that Israeli flag proudly sewn on their backpacks.
the acronym "ssd" might be more appropriate. i also flash when i drop trou.