Apple might be coming to Toshiba's rescue by bidding for its semiconductor business — which has been put up for sale — and it might collaborate with other companies to do so, NHK said on Friday, April 14.
Is Apple Interested In Toshiba's Chip Business?
It's purported that Apple is considering investing at least several billion dollars to stake out around 30 percent in a plan that would render Toshiba still maintaining a partial stake in its business to keep it tethered to U.S. and Japanese control, the report added, citing an unidentified source.
Apple might also be considering a range of options: it might partner with Foxconn or join Japanese investors on a bid, Bloomberg reports, citing sources familiar with the matter. Furthermore, SoftBank Group is also reportedly contemplating on getting involved, possibly cooperating with either Foxconn or Apple for the chip division bidding.
Apple's potential decision to stake out Toshiba's chip business might just be the thing that'll rescue the Japan-based company, which has suffered a strained fiasco in its Westinghouse nuclear business that has propelled it to lose billions of dollars. Toshiba would need such investments to keep itself afloat, but the bidding process hasn't exactly been smooth sailing so far.
Toshiba is apprehensive of Foxconn's intent to wring total control of the chip unit on its own, since it predicts objection form U.S. and Japanese governments.
Toshiba's Troubles
Apple's reported consideration of bidding Toshiba's chip business caps a frenzied week for Toshiba. The conglomerate cautioned that it might not be able to continue its business due to suffering from Westinghouse losses. Then, as things were looking good in terms of its efforts to sell its semiconductor unit, Western Digital, its partner, warned Toshiba that doing so might violate their joint venture contract, urging Toshiba that it be given exclusive negotiating rights.
Memory chips from Toshiba are found in a number of products, from smartphones to PCs to data centers, which pivots them away from hard drives. The semiconductor unit reported healthy growth in the memory unit this week, and it has fetched reported prices of 2 to 3 trillion yen. Bidders actively pursuing Toshiba include Broadcom, Foxconn, and SK Hynix from Korea. Apple, however, wasn't part of these bids, another report suggests, and it's unclear whether the company participated in the first round of auction that sources have said drew around 10 offers.
Toshiba's shares fell over 5 percent on Friday, hit by a report from Bloomberg suggesting the sale of its chip unit has been halted temporarily to address concerns put forth by Western Digital. But Reuters reports that Toshiba has not put the chip sale on hold, citing a spokesman as the source.
Toshiba Corporation is a multinational conglomerate with diverse products and services particularly in information technology. It sells communication equipment systems, consumer electronics, power systems, household appliances, and a laundry list more of others. It was founded in 1938 under a different name, Tokyo Shibaura Electric K.K.
