http://nytimes.com/2015/03/02/business/chip-makers-will-merge-in-deal-worth-11-8-billion.html?referrer=

if it was not for historical reasons whe should not even care about this : )

[ Edited by SoundSquare 02.03.2015 - 15:20 ]

It might be. Doesn't Freescale make the PPC chips used in the SAM 460?

Nope, thats AMCC

They do make the SoCs used in the X5000.

Corrected But they still make and sell PPC, so it's newsworthy.

[ Edited by Yasu 02.03.2015 - 16:16 ]

So the successor to Phillips Semi buys the successor to Motorola Semi.
A former licensee buying the IP holder it used to license designs from.
Seems like a good fit.

Will the merged companies now stop production of PPC and focus on ARM only?

(to save 500 million/year)


[ Edited by WB_Coder 02.03.2015 - 14:04 ]

Quote:
We'll see. ppc is definitely not choice #1 in the world, but there is still some market for ppc. And since the list of ppc makers is rather short and products are not overlapping too much, existing customers will continue their demand to NXP/Freescale. Hence I guess the next few years it will stay probably rather unchanged or the ppc division will get sold to another semi conductor maker. In the long run most signs imply that the market of ppc will finally migrate to ARM.
Anyway, from a business POV the acquisition by NXP can make sense and lift NXP and Freescale above the critical level to sustain on the market. From a European POV I am pleased to see an improvement of the rather weak European semi conductor industry.

> Will the merged companies now stop production of PPC [...]?

Yesterday (in the course of the merger completion), NXP uploaded (older) PPC-related videos to their official Youtube channel, like for instance:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McuhqxyTsmQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNmqQ47fBis

This indicates that the merged companies won't stop PPC production in the near future.

Quote:
Has anybody suspected otherwise? I am sure existing chips will continue to be manufactured for some time while there is a demand for them.

That being said, it is quite likely that the QorIQ series will make a full switch to ARM cores for future chip designs sooner rather than later. Considering that NXP have announced aggressive plans to reduce costs, continuing to develop PowerPC- as well as ARM-based QorIQ chips for years to come appears to be an improbable scenario.

Quote:


That will have to wait and see what comes out :)

>>> Will the merged companies now stop production of PPC [...]?

>> [...] This indicates that the merged companies won't stop PPC production in the near future.

> Has anybody suspected otherwise?

I was replying to the quoted question.

> it is quite likely that the QorIQ series will make a full switch to ARM cores
> for future chip designs sooner rather than later.

One could argue this is already true as all chips of current QorIQ generation (LS series) are ARM-based so far :-)

> Considering that NXP have announced aggressive plans to reduce costs, continuing
> to develop PowerPC- as well as ARM-based QorIQ chips for years to come appears
> to be an improbable scenario.

As far as I have understood the LayerScape architecture, ARM and PPC cores are essentially interchangeable in that. So I don't think the PowerPC chip development costs would be the deciding factor. It's more the costly Power Architecture core development NXP would have to undertake after e6500/e6501 (networking) and e200z9 (automotive) cores that would primarily stand in the way of the cost reducing plans.

Qualcomm to buy NXP:

http://morph.zone/modules/newbb_plus/viewtopic.php?topic_id=7675&forum=3&start=824


Directly from the companies:
http://media.nxp.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=254228&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=2216426
https://www.qualcomm.com/news/releases/2016/10/27/qualcomm-acquire-nxp

Considering what happened with Atheros after the Qualcomm buyout in 2011, this doesn't mean anything good for the future of niche products based on FreeScale technology IMHO.

Quote:

Yep, if the deal actual goes forward, AND its approved, then Qualcomm's primary interest is likely be to broaden their current market to pursue automotive applications.
So the Qorlq line, which is focused on communications, may not be a priority.

> Qualcomm to buy NXP

While NXP not bought by Qualcomm yet, Broadcom to buy Qualcomm:

https://www.qualcomm.com/news/releases/2017/11/06/qualcomm-confirms-receipt-unsolicited-proposal-broadcom
http://investors.broadcom.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=203541&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=2314458

Yep, the only questions now are whether the first deal will still go through, and will the combined companies be considered too powerful by federal regulators.

Quote:

Trump blocks Broadcoms deal on Qualcom due to national security. Albeit definitely no Trump fan I was hoping Brussels/Den Haag uses the same argument for blocking the NXP/Qualcom deal.
http://money.cnn.com/2018/03/12/news/companies/trump-qualcomm-broadcom-deal/index.html

I think Intel will take opportunity and approach Qualcom now. Still hope that NXP gets kept out of the deal and stay Dutch.

Quote:

I'd almost forgotten that NXP was descended from Philips/Signetics.

Since they have a history with Motorola, I'm glad to see them remain independant.

But the lose of the Qualcomm deal will cause their stock price to drop.

>> Still hope that NXP gets kept out of the deal and stay Dutch.

> I'm glad to see them remain independant. But the lose of the
> Qualcomm deal will cause their stock price to drop.

Broadcom not buying Qualcomm would not mean Qualcomm not buying NXP. Quite to the contrary.

Quote:

Good point, in fact it might make it more likely to occur.
At this plint, is there anything other than Chinese approval holding up the deal?

What Chinese approval?

Quote:

I will have to post a link later (I am on a cell phone), but the deal requires Chinese Ministry of Commerce (Mofcom) approval.
There is speculation that the Chinese could withhold approval in retaliation for Trumps rejection of the Broadcom deal.

> Still hope that NXP gets kept out of the deal and stay Dutch.

NXP acquisition by Qualcomm terminated:

https://www.qualcomm.com/news/releases/2018/07/26/qualcomm-announces-termination-nxp-acquisition-and-board-authorization-30