Rumor: Apple Considers Taking Over ARM
According to the London Evening Standard, the rumor mill in the London points to a possible takeover of ARM by Apple.
London's financial district was full of rumors on Wednesday (April 21) that Apple is considering a takeover of processor intellectual property licensor ARM Holdings plc.
ARM's share price rose to 255 pence on Thursday morning.
The newspaper quoted an un-named London stock broker saying: "A deal would make a lot of sense for Apple. That way, they could stop ARM's technology from ending up in everyone else's computers and gadgets."
In order to achieve a 100 percent acquisition, Apple would have to spend more than £5.2 billion (about $8 billion), the newspaper said.
Apple is already a licensee of ARM's processor architecture. Two years ago, the company bought chip design team, P.A.Semi., the company which manufactured the A4 chip inside Apple's iPad tablet computer. As a result, ARM is already receiving royalties for each ipad Apple sells. Would a 100% takeover of the company make sense?
Apple could buy ARM in order to deny the technology to other IP licensors. The vast majority of phones and handhelds around today feature SoC devices based on ARM microprocessor technology. Apple's full control over ARM could have significant implications.
ARM's share price rose to 255 pence on Thursday morning.
The newspaper quoted an un-named London stock broker saying: "A deal would make a lot of sense for Apple. That way, they could stop ARM's technology from ending up in everyone else's computers and gadgets."
In order to achieve a 100 percent acquisition, Apple would have to spend more than £5.2 billion (about $8 billion), the newspaper said.
Apple is already a licensee of ARM's processor architecture. Two years ago, the company bought chip design team, P.A.Semi., the company which manufactured the A4 chip inside Apple's iPad tablet computer. As a result, ARM is already receiving royalties for each ipad Apple sells. Would a 100% takeover of the company make sense?
Apple could buy ARM in order to deny the technology to other IP licensors. The vast majority of phones and handhelds around today feature SoC devices based on ARM microprocessor technology. Apple's full control over ARM could have significant implications.