Friday, August 27, 2010

Intel May Be About to Buy iPhone Chip Supplier Infineon [Intel]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5622997/intel-may-be-about-to-buy-iphone-chip-supplier

Intel May Be About to Buy iPhone Chip Supplier InfineonAccording to a Bloomberg report, Intel is closing in on a deal to acquire the wireless unit of Infineon AG. You know, the company responsible for the iPhone's baseband chips since 2007. That's one way to build a mobile presence.

Bloomberg sources say that the $2 billion deal could go down by the end of this week. If true, it would make Intel immediately competitive in a mobile market that they've thus far been largely shut out of. Infineon may not be a direct iPhone 4 supplier, but they works with both Apple on the iPad and iPhone 3GS. Their technology is also onboard Samsung's Galaxy S series.

When we interviewed Intel CTO Justin Rattner in June, mobile was clearly at the top of his mind (and ours). And Intel's recently strengthened alliance with Nokia proves that they're serious about getting into your phones—even if that means they have to buy their way. [Bloomberg]