[sdiy] TI to buy NatSemi!!!!!

[Tom Wiltshire]

Here's an attempt at decoding the press release:

"A single analog portfolio with unmatched breadth and depth to address your needs"
- We're going to get rid of any duplicate products and anything that sells less than a million units a year/minute.

"Common set of online tools to make the selection and design process easier"
- One of the website will disappear.

"Our combined sales team of >2500 will be 10x larger than National's current sales force which means more customer-facing support to help you solve more problems"
 - We'll have more people than National, even after the lay-offs.

"TI's recent additions and National's available capacity give us headroom to increase production levels for the products you need"
 - Economies of scale increase our profit margin.

"We will continue to run National's fabs"
 - because that's why we bought them!

"No obsolescence of parts"
...until we force you into a cheaper general-purpose digital alternative.


Like others here, I think this is likely to lead to even less diversity in the semiconductor marketplace. Electronics is going to become software on general purpose digital hardware, probably within my lifetime. Electronic design will turn into a branch of programming. Groan. Slap on the suncream and go to work on that VDU tan.

T.