Texas Instruments Acquires National Semiconductor

[Sabre]

Hot Hardware

Two companies that you don't hear too much about are joining hands, but just because they stay out of the consumer spotlight, that doesn't mean that they aren't monumentally important. Texas Instruments, the company that made your college-era graphing calculator as well as a processor in some sort of mobile or TV-related gadget that you probably own, has just wrapped up an acquisition of National Semiconductor. No big deal? Quite the contrary. National is becoming part of TI's Analog business, and it'll expand the company's ability to deliver more products, expertise and support for customers.

Rich Templeton, TI's chairman, president and chief executive officer, had this to say about the deal: "National is now a strategic part of TI's Analog growth engine. Together, we're focused on accelerating semiconductor innovation to improve performance and power efficiency for our customers' electronic systems." More than 5,000 National employees will immediately become part of TI. The two companies will begin the work to integrate National as a unit of TI's Analog business, which will have a combined portfolio of nearly 45,000 analog products, strong customer design tools, and a sales force that is 10 times larger than National's previous footprint.

I've used so many of both of these companys' chips that it's ridiculous. I would consider this somewhat of a monopoly, but I guess there are enough other guys in the business that the gov. thought this was ok.

[ElZorro]

Wow.... well, TI stopped making 'little stuff' awhile ago, started going with larger processors and integrateds, so maybe this is backfill for capability that has atrophied.