June Rumor Mill

Received another message from an industry friend linking to a story about Apple moving away from Samsung to Taiwan Semiconductor. I know, that’s really not new news - the story has been floating around for a while. In the last few weeks it has become more visible when you pin it alongside the patent squabbles.

Rumor: Apple Moving from Samsung to TSMC for A6 Chips

Apple's choice of device manufacturing partners seems to gather all the attention these days but when you dig around a bit you find that others are making significant headway.

It’s worth noting the progress at Texas Instruments. TI’s OMAP processor appears to be winning some nice business. Last week a story hit the modern InterTubes saying that they took RIM's (Research in Motion) phone business from Marvell:

Marvell Loses its Blackberry Contract

And…. One month ago it was noted on the same site that TI was favored for the development of Google's Ice Cream Sandwich OS:

Android Ice Cream Sandwich Optimized for Texas Instruments


It gets really interesting when you pile one more story (rumor) on top. Will TI sell their OMAP division to Intel? That would be the story of the year. Two references:

Hot Rumor: Intel Interested in Buying Texas Instruments' OMAP Unit?

And a story from today…..
TI's Mobile Streak: Intel Might Like It

Seems to me that could be quite a deal. Intel has the baseband business they acquired from Infineon and that fits with OMAP so it does make some sense. Intel desperately wants to get in on the mobile frenzy and by many counts TI wants to stay focused on Analog. If Intel is interested, they might want to get a deal done soon. OMAP is gaining a lot of traction in the market.