Apple wants to buy part of British maker of energy management chips chips

Apple wants to buy a part of Dialog Semiconductor, the British maker of power management chips in iPhones. Three hundred people from the company will join Apple, presumably so that Apple can make its own chips for energy management.

Apple wants to pay the British company $300 million for the partial acquisition, while transferring an additional $300 million in prepayment to make chips over the next three years, Dialog said. Also, 300 people will work for Apple at four Dialog locations, namely Swindon in the UK, Livorno in Italy, and Neuaubing and Nabern in Germany. This concerns about one sixth of Dialog’s employees and a number of buildings.

The American electronics maker already had people in Germany, among other places, to work on chips for energy management. Presumably, the manufacturer wants to switch completely to its own power management integrated circuits, or pmics, in the future. The iPhone XS Max has an Apple pmic, where the iPhone XS has a chip from Dialog, TechInsights reported earlier.

Apple ordered 30 percent fewer chips from Dialog this year than in previous years, according to the company president, which indicated that Apple had switched suppliers or an Apple chip for power management for one of the three iPhones. That now seems to be true.

Dialog is dependent on Apple for a significant part of its turnover, which means that the American company’s move to make its own pmics has major consequences. The deal isn’t done yet; relevant authorities have yet to give their approval. That would happen within eight months, according to both companies.

Apple APL1091 pmic in iPhone XS Max