Apple’s Takeover
The Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported on April 2 that Apple is in talks to purchase Japanese semiconductor manufacturer Renesas Electronics’ 100 percent stake in Renesas SP Drivers, which designs liquid crystal display (LCD) chips, for about 50 billion yen ($483 million, 512 billion won).
The LCD chips are core display components for smartphones that determine the image quality and response speed of the LCD panel. Renesas SP is said to be a leading producer of drivers and controllers for small and mid-sized LCDs with a 30 percent market share.
The newspaper reported that the reason for Apple’s attempt lies in the fact that the tech giant desires to accelerate the development of smaller smartphones with higher resolution displays and longer battery life.
Apple’s move can be interpreted as part of its strategy to counter Qualcomm and Google, which dominate the field of mobile chipsets and mobile operating systems, by retaining core technologies related to semiconductors for smartphones, thus sharpening its competitive advantage, the newspaper said.