Reports are floating that Apple is interested in making an offer to buy out mobile chip maker ARM. The London Standard Evening claims that rumors within the financial markets in London are pointing to a coming Apple bid.
“A deal would make a lot of sense for Apple,” said one trader. “That way, they could stop ARM"s technology from ending up in everyone else"s computers and gadgets.” Traders reckon a bid would come in at around 400p a share, valuing ARM at more than £5.2 billion.
Claims over the buyout originated from Apple’s strong Q2 earnings report from yesterday, which itself raised ARM’s shares since Apple incorporates ARM chips and design within their iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad.
The Register has further details that such a bid could cost up to $8 billion, which would take a hefty 20% of Apple’s current stockpile of $41.7 billion in reserves. Such a takeover could have severe implications for the industry, as the majority of mobile device companies incorporate either ARM chips or licenses into their devices.
Update: ARM’s CEO has commented on the rumor: "Exciting though it is to have the share price pushed up by these rumours, common sense tells us that our standard business model is an excellent way for technology companies to gain access to our technology. Nobody has to buy the company," East told the Guardian.