Samsung snatches iPod win from PortalPlayer
Last week, the small chip company PortalPlayer got some disturbing news. Apple had decided to stop getting microprocessors for its midrange and high-end flash players from the company. PortalPlayer has a processor coming out in the second half and was angling to get it inside new versions of the nano.
It turns out that Apple is going to get chips for future music players from Samsung, according to a report from Mark LaPedus at EE Times.
"I knew PortalPlayer would take a dive," said Jon Kang, senior vice president for the technical marketing group at Samsung Semiconductor, the chip division of the South Korean electronics giant, at the SEMI Strategic Business Conference on Wednesday in Napa, according to the story. "I knew that we would win this design," Kang said during a presentation. "We won the design with the iPod."
Kang referred to the company's chip as the "PortalPlayer killer." Samsung's processor is based around a design from ARM Holdings.
Kang is no low ranking employee. He's one of the key execs at Samsung Semi, which also provides flash memory to Apple.
Analysts predicted that Samsung had won the contract. One of the biggest component suppliers in the world, Samsung is tough to keep out once a foot is in the door.
