ARM Holdings, the Cambridge-based company which holds the licensing rights to the majority of processors found in modern mobile devices, is said to be in Apple’s shopping list. Apple, purported to be ARM’s largest customer, pays the company royalties for each iPod and iPhone sold. An unnamed trader speculated to The Evening Standard that Apple would likely offer ARM 400p per share, or £5.2 billion ($8 billion USD). Shares in ARM Holdings closed Wednesday on the London Stock Exchange at 250.5p, up 3.09%. Last April, Apple acquired chipmaker PA Semi for $278 million. Earlier this month rumors began circulating that Apple had bought out the privately owned and Texas-based ARM design firm Intrinsity, a company which built its reputation a upon its energy efficient microprocessors. Many believe that Intrinsity’s acceleration technology plays a key role in the A4 processor found in the iPad. If Apple were to acquire ARM, there is every possibility it could fall victim to an anti-trust legislation as it would be in a position where it could exert undue influence upon its competition which also rely heavily upon ARM. One thing is for certain, almost every mobile device manufacturers is probably sweating at the thought of this actually happening…
