Apple is reportedly in talks to buy flash memory maker Anobit, according to an Israeli business newspaper, in a deal that could help give the iPhone maker an advantage in its ongoing battle with Samsung. Anobit’s chips are used in Apple’s iPad, iPhone and MacBook Air. Samsung, the only company currently selling more smartphones than Apple, purchases chips from Anobit for its SK6630 memory cards.
Anobit’s proprietary Memory Signal Processing technology is attractive to smartphone makers because it cuts memory cost by combining high capacity with high endurance. Chips that store 2 bits per cell traditionally wear out about 10 times faster than chips that store just one bit per cell, but Anobit says it delivers the performance of 2-bits-per-cell with the endurance of 1-bit-per-cell. The result for device makers is more memory for their money.
Calcalist, a business journal written in Hebrew, says that Applewill pay $400 million to $500 million for Anobit if the deal closes and may make Anobit its Israeli research and development center. Anobit has subsidiaries in the United States and Korea; its investors include Battery Ventures, Pitango Venture Capital and Strategic Investors.
This would not be Apple’s first acquisition of a chipmaker. In 2008, Apple bought P.A. Semi for $278 million, and last year it bought Intrinsity for an undisclosed price. Earlier this year, traders bid up shares of ARM (Nasdaq: ARMH) on rumors that Apple was about to buy that company. ARM designs the CPU used in the custom A5 chip that runs Apple’s iPad and iPhone.
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