Apple finally confirmed its rumored purchase of Anobit, an Israeli company that makes digital signal processing tech to improve the performance of NAND flash used in the iPhone, iPad, and MacBook Air, among other devices. The official confirmation follows reports made first in December of 2011, and could indicate that Apple is looking to extend its edge over the competition when it comes to flash memory.
Apple now has a guaranteed steady supply of high-performance controllers made by Anobit that make the NAND flash used in its mobile devices, especially in higher capacities, perform better. Anobit’s expertise could potentially help Apple improve battery life and storage capacity in future devices, and also lower costs related to flash components, which are traditionally some of the most expensive single components used in the production of iOS hardware.
As usual when it comes to these strategic acquisitions, Apple wouldn’t comment on its plans for Anobit. “Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time,” a spokesman told Bloomberg in an interview. “We generally do not discuss our purpose or plans.”
In this case, however, we have a precedent we can look to; Apple used its purchase of PA Semi and Intrinsity to help further its own in-house designed A-series of ARM-based processors. Custom NAND flash modules that have unique optimizations based on Anobit tech could help Apple deliver an even more tightly-integrated device/software combo that pushes its existing advantages in terms of power consumption, speed and product margins further still.
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