Repost of DD on Apple/Broadcom chip situationHere's some DD I did last night....
Could the Fortune 500 company that requested the development kit be Broadcom? They have a strong relationship with Apple and are used in many of their products including the Apple iWatch/iPhone/iPad...
Based on Apples recent strategy it could also be them:
"Pac Crest recently stated there's a growing risk Apple will abandon Broadcom in favor of home-grown combo chips, given Apple's hiring activity and Texas Instruments' $315M sale of wireless connectivity IP to an unnamed OEM (believed by some to be Apple). If Apple wishes to ditch Broadcom, Passif could provide one piece to the puzzle, but only that."
"Apple's WiFi problem is more likely traceable to components supplied by Broadcom than to a systemic decline in Apple's operating systems."
"Mavericks went through similar though not as severe problems with WiFi when it was first rolled out, indicating that Apple has had a longstanding problem getting Broadcom's hardware successfully integrated. The real question is why has Apple allowed itself to become so dependent on Broadcom?"
Link: https://seekingalpha.com/news/1186712-report-apple-buys-bluetooth-chipmaker-possibly-for-iwatch-efforts
Link: https://seekingalpha.com/article/2814355-apples-wifi-firestorm-not-a-threat-but-could-lead-to-an-acquisition
Regarding acquestion of TI engineers by Apple:
"Not only were these engineers reportedly working
image: https://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adTypes/icon1.png
on TI’s Open Multimedia Applications
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Platform (OMAP), but they were also working on chips including WiFi and Bluetooth radios. As Apple continues to move into custom chip designs, this kind of expertise becomes absolutely essential to its core business."
Link: https://www.extremetech.com/computing/142553-apple-acquires-ti-staff-moves-deeper-into-the-world-of-socs
Another interesting fact is that Passif Semiconductors chip technology (who Apple acquired) was focused around low-power communication chips to improve battery life ... Edgewater's patent which was acquired by Apple also focused on power efficent communication (U.S. Patent 7016654 for Programmable Power-Efficient Front End for Wired and Wireless Communication)
"Apple has purchased Silicon Valley-based wireless chip developer Passif Semiconductor,reports technology writer Jessica Lessin. The company, which Apple has reportedly been after for several years, specializes in low-power communication chips that could be used to improve battery life in wearable devices such as Apple’s rumored iWatch."
Andrew Skafel (CEO of Edgewater) also mentions "Wi-Fi enabled watches" in the Pinnacle Digest interview on April 13th.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EiwZPDD7fI
Always do your own DD. Looking forward to this week! Cheers