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Qualcomm to Acquire Chip Startup Nuvia, Founded by Ex-Apple Chip Designers, for $1.4 Billion
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They might be just as happy buying parts from Qualcomm. I don’t think either of those companies fancy themselves CPU makers— anything they’ve done til now has likely been out of necessity in the absence of a commodity solution.Well that would explain why Intel and AMD were not interested.
Though one would think Amazon or Google might have been interested (and perhaps they were) - especially Amazon since their Graviton CPU is based on ARM.
On the surface, a $1.4B USD acquisition might seem like alot of Coin, but in today's Price-Expanded Stock Market, it's NOT !
Regardless, could be a very good move for QCOM.
I remember working there on their SnapDragon chips when AAPL released the 5s with its Register-Rich A7.
That surprised everyone, including QCOM !
Almost immediately after the 5s was announced, QCOM's customers ONLY wanted 64-bit designs.
That took QCOM over a year to get out the door.
Few outside of chip design know that at-least one-third of AAPL's iPhone 6 family success was due strictly to the fact that QCOM had stumbled.
To my knowledge, NONE of the so-called Pro Stock Analysts who cover AAPL for a living, & that includes the Cheerleader Types (i.e., Munster, Ives, Huberty, & Cramer), have ever mentioned the connection between the A7, QCOM, & the market success of the iPhone 6 family !
To my knowledge, I believe that ALSO applies to the entire staff at MR !
Regardless, could be a very good move for QCOM.
I remember working there on their SnapDragon chips when AAPL released the 5s with its Register-Rich A7.
That surprised everyone, including QCOM !
Almost immediately after the 5s was announced, QCOM's customers ONLY wanted 64-bit designs.
That took QCOM over a year to get out the door.
Few outside of chip design know that at-least one-third of AAPL's iPhone 6 family success was due strictly to the fact that QCOM had stumbled.
To my knowledge, NONE of the so-called Pro Stock Analysts who cover AAPL for a living, & that includes the Cheerleader Types (i.e., Munster, Ives, Huberty, & Cramer), have ever mentioned the connection between the A7, QCOM, & the market success of the iPhone 6 family !
To my knowledge, I believe that ALSO applies to the entire staff at MR !
The real question, after regulatory approval is granted, will Qualcomm pass on their savings to chip purchasers?
ie. Microsoft, Sony, Asus, Acer, Samsung, etc.
And thus ends the Apple domination in ARM-based chips.
I think it was a Wiliam Gibson novel (?) where tech talent was so well guarded that head hunters needed to send in commando teams to liberate them if they wanted to change jobs. We don't want to be in that world.
They left with their knowledge and talent, but most likely not secrets. If you've done it once, you can do it again. That's the logic behind acquisitions like this. There have been exceptions, like Uber/Waymo (Uber unethical? I'm shocked!), and I think Synopsys and Magma rings a bell, but for the most part trade secrets don't get carried around like that. They don't need to be, any more than you'd recruit a star quarterback to learn an opponents playbook.
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You ever see somebody’s reaction when you use something other than Google for a lookup? If it wasn’t the default many IOS users would be confused and annoyed, this is a great way for Apple to pocket easy money while also doing what most consumers prefer (even if it isn’t the most private)
For those who don’t it’s a snap to change defaults.
I don't disagree. But Apple is making $12B/year to allow Google to monetize the privacy of its users, so those who claim that Google makes their money monetizing users' privacy while Apple doesn't aren't being objective.
Thanks for all that, interesting to read!
iPhone 6 was definitely one of their best ever phones, mine finally died last year when I dropped it in the sink. And the 6S the last to have the jack, RIP.
Gerard Williams III worked for Intel, TI, ARM and Apple
Manu Gulati worked for Broadcom, Apple and Google
John Bruno worked for AMD, Apple and Google
All of them spent smallish fractions of their careers at Apple.
Three other VPs have worked for many companies but not for Apple.
First, this doesn’t indicate “serious competition.” Nobody had seen anything from Nuvia, so we have no reason to believe that they can compete with Apple yet.
Second, your “evil empire” comment is drivel.
Wonder if Qualcomm and Apple will now be butting heads over patent infrigement? Will be interesting.