14 DAY TRIAL // Israeli news outlets are confirming that Anobit has been acquired by Apple, as previously rumored by the technology media. Anobit is a NAND Flash designer whose technology is key to improving storage in Apple’s iPhones and iPads, as well as Macs.
Globes reports that the Cupertino, California-based Apple itself confirmed the acquisition yesterday. The company declined to provide specifics.
However, other reports quote Steve Dowling, a spokesman for Apple, as saying in a telephone interview that “Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans.”
A December report from the Israeli newspaper Cacalist said Apple had bought out Anobit for $400-500 million.
We’ve since issued four separate reports relating to the rumored purchase of Anobit, including the potential improvements Apple could make in future products, should they leverage the technologies developed by the Israeli Flash designer.
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In a non-surprising move, Anobit has now taken down its official web site.
Previously, the chip maker’s online venue revealed that “Anobit provides flash storage solutions for the Enterprise and Mobile markets.”
“It's [sic] MSP (Memory Signal Processing) technology significantly improves the endurance, performance and cost of flash storage products and systems. Anobit's products are used by world leading flash manufacturers, consumer electronics vendors and storage system providers,” said the company’s 'about-us' page.
According to reports in December, Apple was particularly interested in the company’s ability to improve long-term reliability of NAND Flash cells, and their potential for increasing the actual storage amount per chip.