1. Heavy! Bain completed the acquisition of Toshiba's memory sector!
Set Micro-Network News, June 1, 2018, Bain Capital formally announced that it has completed the acquisition of Toshiba's Memory Division (TMC), after which the division will become an independent Japanese company.
Bain Capital stated that the company will continue to help TMC to grow and expand in the future, and through the necessary capital investment, it will help TMC become an important part of the global memory supply chain. 'We are confident in the strength of TMC and its future growth potential.'
This news also indicates that the acquisition of Toshiba's memory business has finally settled.
Will the market show a concentrated trend?
In September last year, To ensure that the company needed the necessary funds for its reconstruction, Toshiba decided to sell its storage business at a price of 2 trillion yen to the 'US-Japan-Korea Union' led by the Bain Foundation. Except for Apple, Dell, Seagate and Kingston etc. Company, Korean chip maker SK Hynix is also among the members of the consortium.
Coughlin Associates Chairman, Tom Coughlin, Digital Storage Industry Analyst, sent a statement through Forbes that since Western Digital’s disagreements with Toshiba have already been solved earlier, TMC’s completion of the sale will enable the two companies to jointly own the world’s second largest flash memory production plant. Into a stable state. Western Digital is likely to have a stable fab partnership. Systems and equipment manufacturers such as Apple, Dell, Kingston and Seagate will also be directly connected to flash chip supply channels, while SK Hynix will be able to obtain Part of Toshiba flash memory technology.
However, Coughlin believes that the completion of the TMC sale does not mean that the flash chip market is concentrated. On the contrary, the market will have more players. 'With the maturity of commodities such as flash memory, compared with the usual industrial integration, this is An interesting reversal. 'He wrote, 'This expansion in the number of players is driven by the rise of a number of Chinese flash memory manufacturers. Obviously, the flash memory industry has not yet completed its integration.'
In the short term, the completion of the TMC sale will not cause any significant impact on its own business. DRAMeXchange of Jibang Consulting also believes that after the completion of the transaction, the investment plans of Toshiba’s follow-up Fab 6 and Fab 7 will proceed smoothly and with sufficient funds as expected. The investment also enabled Toshiba’s flash memory division to focus more on the development of new technologies, thus continuing to compete with Samsung in the NAND flash memory market while maintaining a good relationship with Western Digital.
Toshiba issued a report in May that the company had turned a profit in the fiscal year ending in March. Toshiba stated in a statement that it will promptly announce any matter related to the transaction and demand further disclosure. Completion, but also for Toshiba ushered in! (Proofreading / Mao Mao)
2. Apple will cut a single third of this year's Dialogue power management IC.
Apple Provider Dialogue Semiconductor recently reminded investors that its revenue this year will be lower than expected. The news echoed last November that Apple will develop self-developed power management chips to get rid of Dialogue Semiconductor.
Dialogue Semiconductor issued a statement through the Financial Times, saying that Apple has decided to reduce its "30%" power management chip orders this year compared to previous years. At present, Apple's business accounts for three quarters of the company's annual revenue. Dialogue Semiconductor CEO Jalal Bagherli expects the situation next year will be similar to this year.
Although Apple is gradually switching to its own power management chip, Dialogue Semiconductor said it will continue to meet Apple's technology, quality, price and output requirements for the remaining orders.
It now appears that Apple will gradually reduce the supplier's power management chip proportion, rather than disposable. However, Apple's practice is usually the same part with more than one supplier to reduce risk and increase bargaining power. As for cutting Who will make up the 30% of the lost orders, and whether Apple's self-developed chips are still unclear. MacX
3. Apple has dug multiple engineers Mac from Intel or really turned to independent chips;
According to 9To5Mac, some media reports said that Apple has hired engineers and researchers from Intel to enrich a newly established department in Washington County, Oregon.
Apple has hired more engineers from Intel to help develop ARM chips for computers
Apple's recruitment this time seems to have started in November last year, and may further increase Apple's plan to use its self-developed ARM architecture chip in the coming years to replace the credibility of Intel chips in Mac computers.
Comprehensive recruiting information, social networking profiles and information from sources familiar with Apple's recruitment activities can tell that Apple has recruited nearly 20 employees for a hardware engineering lab in Washington County. These employees are mainly from Intel and other Oregon states. Technology company.
The professional social networking site LinkedIn's profile information shows that since November last year, Apple has been recruiting staff for the Washington County Department, many of whom had previously held senior research or engineering positions at Intel.
Recruitment information requires candidates to have 'design verification expertise', which is to compare the finished product with the original design specifications to ensure that the product meets the requirements.
Recently there have been rumors that Apple is developing an ARM-Mac hybrid product with ARM chips and touch screens. Later media reports said that Hewlett-Packard will manufacture MacBooks equipped with ARM chips for Apple OEMs.
Although this rumors have been questioned, Bloomberg, which has always been reliable, has also reported that Apple or 2020 will release the first Mac computer with self-designed ARM chips.
According to industry media, the move may be part of Apple’s future Mac project. Digging engineers and researchers from Intel undoubtedly marks Apple’s step toward this goal. Phoenix Technology
4. China Market Regulators: Still reviewing Qualcomm's acquisition of NXP Transaction
Sina Technology News Beijing time on June 1 afternoon news, according to Reuters, China's State Market Supervision Administration said on Friday that the agency is still reviewing Qualcomm's $ 44 billion worth of transactions with NXP.
According to the State Market Supervision Administration, the department is also negotiating with Qualcomm to eliminate the negative impact of the transaction on the market.
In response to a Reuters fax, the State Market Supervision Administration stated that the department will conduct the anti-monopoly review in a fair and open manner.
Earlier Reuters quoted sources as saying that Qualcomm may meet with Chinese antitrust regulators in Beijing this week to ensure approval of its $44 billion purchase of NXP.
The deal was implicated in the escalation of Sino-U.S. trade frictions. Informed sources said whether the deal was approved depends on the broader bilateral talks between China and the United States. The deal was subject to the approval of nine regulators. At present, only China has not yet approved.
In recent weeks, Qualcomm has restarted the communication process that had been terminated at the end of last year. After going into a dead-end alley last year, the company re-submitted an anti-monopoly application in China in April.