Apple and Amazon join Toshiba's semiconductor business

Toshiba’s microchip business isn’t just new potential buyers. This time, Apple and Amazon are making serious plans for this. This information was shared with the Nikkei newspaper by the general director of Taiwanese electronics manufacturing company Foxconn, Terry Gow.



“Apple and Amazon offer money together, but I cannot comment on how much each company offers,” said Gow. Nevertheless, his statement can be considered the first official confirmation that the two IT giants intend to participate in the struggle for Toshiba's semiconductor business.



Apple plans to acquire 20-30% of Toshiba Memory and is willing to spend several billion dollars on this. But at the same time, the company is exploring the possibility of combining efforts with Taiwanese Hon Hai Precision (also known as Foxconn), according to Japanese television channel NHK, citing informed sources.



Apple and Amazon are both Foxconn’s main customers. More than half of the revenue Foxconn receives from the delivery of components and assembly of gadgets for Apple. And for Amazon, Foxconn produces Kindle e-books and Echo smart speakers.



However, Toshiba’s semiconductor business purchase was also considered by other companies. The same Foxconn is ready to pay 2 trillion yen ($ 18.2 billion). While this amount is the maximum of all proposed earlier.



Despite such a generous offer, Foxconn is not a favorite in the fight for Toshiba's semiconductor business due to the close ties of the Taiwanese contract manufacturer of electronics with China. The fact is that the Japanese authorities oblige and block any transaction in which there is a risk of leaving the country of key technologies associated with chips, writes Reuters.



In January 2017, Toshiba approved plans to allocate microchip production to a separate company and began searching for third-party investments. Sellers estimate their microchip business in the amount of about 1–1.5 trillion yen ($ 9–13 billion).



The sale of the unit is a principle solution for Toshiba. This will improve the business of the company after the bankruptcy of its American nuclear division of Westinghouse Electris. According to the company's forecasts, the net loss for the fiscal year that ended March 31 could be up to $ 9.2 billion.