Samsung Grabs iPod Chip Deal

Samsung has grabbed the MP3 media processor business for Apple’s next-generation iPods, at the expense of recently “fired” PortalPlayer Inc. Samsung attributes its victory to the “PortalPlayer Killer” MP3 chip design which is based on 32-bit processor technology from ARM Holdings plc.  As expected, PortalPlayer’s stocks plummeted following the announcement. PortalPlayer joins companies SigmaTel, Actions, and LSI Logic in the “losers” lounge.

Though Samsung already supplies the majority of NAND flash drives to Apple’s iPod, the design win represents Samsung’s largest LSI chip order to date.

Samsung has grabbed the MP3 media processor business for Apple’s next-generation iPods, at the expense of recently “fired” PortalPlayer Inc. Samsung attributes its victory to the “PortalPlayer Killer” MP3 chip design which is based on 32-bit processor technology from ARM Holdings plc.  As expected, PortalPlayer’s stocks plummeted following the announcement. PortalPlayer joins companies SigmaTel, Actions, and LSI Logic in the “losers” lounge.

Though Samsung already supplies the majority of NAND flash drives to Apple’s iPod, the design win represents Samsung’s largest LSI chip order to date.