Texas Instruments is opting out of mobile chips to focus on embedded platforms, even as Apple's A-series chip business grows and hires away TI staff.
As reported by the EE Times, TI announced earlier this week that it would shift its application processor chip business from consumer products like tablets and phones to embedded industrial markets such as automotive in a bid to stabilize sales and increase profits.
The company originally developed its OMAP (Open Multimedia Applications Platform) line of ARM "system on a chip" application processors in conjunction with handset vendors and historically sold the parts directly to phone makers, including Amazon, Archos, Motorola, Nokia, LG, Palm, RIM and even Samsung, which also builds its own chips.
However, the popularity of Apple's iPod, iPhone and iPad devices, which had already sent ripples through RAM markets and depressed sales of conventional hard drives, is now changing the market for application processors, too.
