Softbank

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Nvidia scraps $66 billion plan to acquire mobile chip designer Arm

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FTC moves to block Nvidia's acquisition of Arm
Regulators didn't like the idea of Nvidia and Arm merging together.
Image: Arm/Nvidia/Cult of Mac

Nvidia on Monday backed out of a deal to acquire mobile chip designer Arm for $66 billion, according to reports. It would have been the largest ever sale in the semiconductor industry, but regulators including the FTC weren’t keen on it.

SoftBank, the Japanese company that currently owns Arm, still expects to sell it by the end of the year through an initial public offering.

Apple held early conversations about buying Arm, but ultimately declined

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Apple Silicon
Apple has relied on Arm technology a lot over the years.
Photo: Apple

Apple reportedly participated in early stage conversations with SoftBank about acquiring its Arm Holdings.

Arm Holdings is the semiconductor conductor whose ARM architecture Apple licenses for everything from its A-series chips for iPhone and iPad to its upcoming Apple Silicon processors for Mac.

Apple-backed startup fund loses $8.9 billion in 3 months

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International governments plan to rethink tax rules for the ‘digital age’
Apple invested $1 billion in the fund in 2017.
Photo: Pixabay/Pexels CC

A $100 billion SoftBank Vision Fund that Apple invested in has published a quarterly loss of $8.9 billion. The fund backs promising (or seemingly promising) startups.

SoftBank Group founder, chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son announced the disappointing returns today. “My investment judgment was poor,” Son said.

We probably know when Apple will introduce the iPhone 11

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iPhone 11R and 11 Max on wooden railing
You haven't got too much longer to wait!
Photo: Ian Fuchs/Cult of Mac

The iPhone 11 could be in your hands in just 45 days, the president of Japanese telecommunications company SoftBank may have accidentally revealed.

Speaking at an investor event over the weekend, SoftBank President Ken Miyauchi suggested that the new iPhone will be available September 20.

How Apple sidestepped Japan’s antitrust rules

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Apple Japan required carriers to subsidize iPhone
Apple Japan used contracts to require carriers to subsidize iPhone prices.
Photo: Apple

Apple got a bit pushy with Japan’s wireless service providers, and was slapped down by regulators as a result.

The iPhone maker was requiring the carriers to put subsidies on iOS handsets. The Japanese Fair Trade Commission decided that was a violation of Japan’s antitrust rules.

T-Mobile and Sprint begin informal merger talks

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t-mobile
T-Mobile CEO John Legere is trying to make is carrier relevant again.
Photo: T-Mobile

A merger between Sprint and T-Mobile could be back on the table, according to a new report that claims informal talks between the two carriers sparked up again this week.

Sprint attempted to acquire T-Mobile back in 2014 but the deal fell apart because of regulatory concerns. Now the heads of both companies have expressed to investors that they’re willing to consider consolidating again.

Apple invests $1 billion in world’s biggest tech fund

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Apple invested $1 billion in Didi Chuxing last year.
Photo: Tim Cook/Twitter

Apple confirmed today that is getting into the venture capital game by investing in one of the world’s largest tech funds.

SoftBank’s new Vision Fund received $1 billion from Apple, according to a company spokesperson that revealed the company is investing in the $100 billion fund to gain access to future technology.

iPhone chip designer ARM to be snapped up for $32 billion

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money
ARM just sold for an arm and a leg.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

ARM Holdings, a.k.a. the company responsible for the mobile processor architecture which powers the iPhone and iPad, looks set to be bought by Japan’s SoftBank for an eye-watering (iWatering?) $32 billion, it has confirmed.

ARM’s board will recommend that shareholders accept the deal, which represents 43 percent over the company’s closing market value as per Friday. The news caused shares in ARM to leap up by 45 percent to 1,742.85p per share when the London Stock Exchange opened this morning.

iPhone 5S & iPhone 5C Coming To Japan September 20th [Report]

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Just to put the following report in the proper perspective, let’s start out by saying that two months ago — just two days after Apple debuted iOS 7 at WWDC 2013 — we predicted that the iPhone 5S would be released on September 20th later this year, after debuting ten days earlier.

How did we come up with that date? It was easy. We looked at what Apple had done in previous iPhone launches, and then took a look at the calendar for 2013. No soothsaying, no mysterious sources. It was as simple as that.

So when Japan’s largest industry newspaper, Nikkei, starts reporting that Apple will release the iPhone 5S and 5C on (yup) September 20th, you have to ask yourselves. Do they actually know? Or are they just fudging it?

Dish Network Looks To Acquire Sprint For $25.5 Billion

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Satellite TV provider Dish Network is looking to derail Sprint’s deal with SoftBank and acquire the carrier with a $25.5 billion bid. Dish has offered $17.3bn in cash and $8.2bn in stock for 100% of Sprint shares, and the company argues that the deal represents a 13% premium over SoftBanks “complicated” bid to acquire 70% for $20.1 billion.

Sprint Reports $1.3 Billion Loss For Q4 2012, Despite Best Ever Quarter For iPhone

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Sprint has today announced its fourth quarter and full year financial results for 2012, and they don’t make for pleasant reading. Despite healthy smartphone sales driven by the iPhone, the carrier reported a loss of $1.3 billion for during the three-month period, which is the same figure it lost during Q4 2011. It also saw more than 1 million Nextel subscribers jumping ship.

SoftBank Confirms It Will Acquire 70% Of Sprint For $20.1 Billion

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SoftBank will combine with Sprint to become one of the world's largest carriers.

SoftBank, Japan’s third-largest carrier, has this morning announced that it will acquire Sprint in a deal worth $20.1 billion. The company will purchase $8 billion in newly-issues shares from Sprint, in addition to $12.1 billion in existing shares — giving it a 70% stake overall.

Japanese Carrier SoftBank Planning To Buy Control Of Sprint [Rumor]

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SoftBank sees Sprint deal as the fastest route into the U.S.

Japan’s third-largest carrier is reportedly in talks to buy control of Sprint, according to two people familiar with the matter. SoftBank wants to snap up two-thirds of the company with a stake worth “more than” 1.5 trillion yen ($19 billion), and it’s also eyeing Sprint’s partner, Clearwire, too.

Thieves Steal $100,000 Worth Of iPhone 5s From Japanese Carriers

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Unfortunately, Find My iPhone won't help in this case.
Unfortunately, Find My iPhone won't help in this case.

Waiting in line for the latest iPhone is by no means a pleasant experience. Sure, Apple often hands out free coffee and cakes, but I’d sooner stroll into the store and straight back out again and pay for my own coffee on the way home. But for millions of us this morning, standing in line is the only way to secure an iPhone 5 on launch day.

That is, if you’re a law-abiding citizen. If you’re not, you might consider breaking into a local carrier store and stealing more than $100,000 worth of iPhone 5 units — just like thieves in Japan did today.

Server Glitch Spoils iPhone 4S Launch for Softbank Customers in Japan

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Softbank

Those who queued outside Softbank stores in Japan eager to be the one of first the get their hands on the iPhone 4S today were frustrated when a server glitch caused problems with purchasing for over three hours after the device went on launch. Softbank doors opened at 8 AM especially for the new device, but service wasn’t completely restored until around 11 AM.