Apple is paying $300 million in cash to purchase part of Dialog Semiconductor, a European chipmaker that Apple has been working with since the first iPhone.
The investment is part of Apple’s strategy to develop superior chipsets which will help it stand out and differentiate itself in the battle with rival smartphone and other mobile device makers.
In addition to the $300 million price tag, Apple is also committing that it will spend an extra $300 million making further purchases from the remaining, non-Apple owned part of Dialog.
The deal is extra significant because it is Apple’s biggest ever acquisition in terms of the number of people who come as part of it. 300 Dialog employees (or 16 percent of the company) will be joining Apple. These employees are based in Italy, England, and Germany.
“Dialog has deep expertise in chip development, and we are thrilled to have this talented group of engineers who’ve long supported our products now working directly for Apple,” Apple’s SVP of hardware technologies, Johny Srouji, said in a statement. “Our relationship with Dialog goes all the way back to the early iPhones, and we look forward to continuing this long-standing relationship with them.”
The acquisition deal reportedly includes intellectual property and licenses for additional IP. It is likely to complete in the first half of 2019, provided there are no regulatory issues.
Dialog will hold a conference call this morning to reveal additional details of the massive deal.
Via: TechCrunch
