Sep 14, 2017

Why Apple might plow $3 billion into Toshiba's chip business

Marcio Jose Sanchez / AP

Apple is close to investing upwards of $3 billion for a stake in Toshiba's chip business, per Bloomberg. That would be as much more than the company spent on its biggest-ever acquisition, Beats Electronics. But in many ways, this would be less surprising than that deal. Apple declined to comment.

While Apple doesn't generally do big acquisitions, securing component supply is an area where Apple is known for spending big. So, the notion that the company might be willing to invest $3 billion for a minority stake isn't actually so crazy.
Right now the company is highly dependent on Samsung, a key rival, for memory chips.
But: A Toshiba deal wouldn't end apple's reliance on Samsung. The Korean electronics giant also manufactures some of Apples other chips and is likely the main supplier of the OLED screen for the iPhone X.

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Updated 7 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

Global: Total confirmed cases as of 8:30 p.m. ET: 5,803,416 — Total deaths: 359,791 — Total recoveries — 2,413,576 — Map.
U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 8:30 p.m. ET: 1,720,613 — Total deaths: 101,573 — Total recoveries: 399,991 — Total tested: 15,646,041 — Map.
Public health: The mystery of coronavirus superspreaders.
Congress: Pelosi slams McConnell on stimulus delay — Sen. Tim Kaine and wife test positive for coronavirus antibodies.
World: Twitter slapped a fact-check label on a pair of months-old tweets from a Chinese government spokesperson that falsely suggested that the coronavirus originated in the U.S.
2020: The RNC has issued their proposed safety guidelines for its planned convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Axios on HBO: Science fiction writers tell us how they see the coronavirus pandemic.
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A portrait of George Floyd hangs on a street light pole in Minneapolis. Photo: Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

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