Apple bought Anobit Technologies for about US$390 million, paying below the price sought by the Israeli maker of flash storage technology, reports “Bloomberg” (http://macte.ch/DqVZ5), quoting unnamed “people familiar with the purchase.”
The article says negotiations continued for more than two weeks after Israel’s “Calcalist” newspaper reported Dec. 20 that Apple bought Herzliya-based Anobit for as much as $500 million. Apple finally signed the agreement Jan. 6 to buy the Israeli company, according to “Bloomberg,” attributing the info to “two Anobit shareholders, who spoke on condition of anonymity because Apple didn’t want details disclosed.”
Anobit has developed a chip that enhances flash drive performance through signal processing, the article adds. The chip is already incorporated in Apple devices such as the iPhone, iPad and the MacBook Air.
“The Calcalist” says Apple is interested in Anobit’s technology to increase and enhance the memory volume and performance of its devices. The chip could double the memory volume in the new iPads and MacBooks.