Apple, Amazon and Google have joined the bidding on Toshiba’s NAND flash memory production division, Reuters reports. According to the Yomiuri Shimbun daily, Apple’s bid is still unknown, but other firms and companies have offered around $18 billion for the unit.
A source with knowledge of the sale said about 10 bidders have expressed an interest so far, including Western Digital and U.S. chipmaker Broadcom.
It’s unclear what Apple’s plans would be if it were to actually acquire the flash memory production, but the move would almost certainly bring the company’s own memory production in-house. Apple has expressed an increased interest in controlling more of its component production, with Imagination Technologies announcing today that Apple would be ending it’s deal with them after “working on a separate, independent graphics design in order to control its products and will be reducing its future reliance on Imagination’s technology.”
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