A report from Calcalist, in Hebrew, apparently says that Apple is acquiring Anobit, a provider of flash memory technology.
I don’t read Hebrew, but TechCrunch’s Robin Wauters has evidently translated, and says the Israel-based company is being purchased by Apple for between $400 and $500 million if the original report is accurate. Wauters writes:
According to Calcalist reporter Assaf Gilad, Apple relies on the company’s solutions for the iPhone, iPad and MacBook Air product lines, among other devices. South Korean Hynix is said to use Anobit’s solution for a flash memory chip you can find inside the iPhone 4S.
Anobit’s decription of itself and its technology is as follows:
Anobit provides flash storage solutions for the Enterprise and Mobile markets. It’s 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.
..
Anobit’s MSP™ (Memory Signal Processing) technology is comprised of proprietary signal processing algorithms combined with advanced error correction and innovative flash management schemes, resulting in a dramatic improvement in endurance, performance and system cost. Specifically, MSP™ enables SLC (one bit-per-cell) endurance and performance with MLC (two bits-per-cell) NAND, and MLC endurance and performance with TLC (three bits-per-cell) NAND, resulting in a significant reduction in cost per-bit.
Of course neither company is commenting on the reported acquisition talks.