Amazon Reportedly in Talks to Acquire Texas Instruments Mobile Chip Biz

By David Tobia
October 18, 2012

Amazon has begun negotiations to acquire the mobile chip arm of Texas Instruments, according to Isreali newspaper Calcalist. Amazon will likely pay billions of dollars in the deal, reports Business Insider.
Purchasing a mobile chip business would allow Amazon to rival Apple and Samsung as manufacturers who design their own chips for electronics. Amazon already competes in the tablet industry, and may break into the smartphone business within the foreseeable future.
Last month, Texas Instruments said it would shift from wireless chip development for consumer products to larger industrial products, such as the development of chips for cars. TI sees the move as a more stable and profitable business plan.
“TI’s chips are used in Amazon.com’s Kindle Fire tablet,” notes the article. “TI told investors it would continue to support its customers but its mobile application chip business, which supports features like video, will not invest in supporting its customers future roadmap for tablets and smartphones to the same degree as before.”
Neither Amazon nor Texas Instruments has commented on the report, but Gartner analyst Carolina Malanesi expressed doubt, telling Reuters that she does not think Amazon would want to “become that intimately involved with hardware.”

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