Apple pushes further into the SoC arena
Texas Instruments announced earlier this year that it is getting out of the SoC market, and that sadly means a little under two thousand jobs are being cut. In response, Apple has snatched up dozens of engineers from TI’s Israel-based operation.
Not only were these engineers reportedly working on TI’s Open Multimedia Applications Platform (OMAP), but they were also working on chips including Wi-Fi and Bluetooth radios. As Apple continues to move into custom chip designs, this kind of expertise becomes absolutely essential to its core business.
Apple isn’t the only one moving in on TI’s SoC corpse, though. A few months ago, rumours swirled that Amazon was interested in acquiring OMAP technology. As tablets start to become a bigger business for Amazon, it makes perfect sense to move in exactly the same direction as the Cupertino behemoth.
