(By Balachander) Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) is said to be in advanced discussions to acquire the mobile chip business of Texas Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:TXN) mobile chip business in a deal valued probably worth in the range of "billions of dollars."
On Monday, TXN shares gained 3.01 percent to trade at $28.10, while AMZN shares shed 0.20 percent to $241.87.
Dallas, Texas-based, Texas Instruments makes chips that are used in devices ranging from home appliances to smartphones to military hardware. Texas' OMAP processors are used in Amazon's Kindle Fire tablet.
"If negotiations lead to an agreement, Amazon...would become a direct rival to Apple and Samsung Electronics, which also designs their own chips," Israeli financial newspaper Calcalist reported.
Reuters reported that Texas announced a plan last month to shift its focus away from the mobile chip market to a broader market, including clients in the automotive sector where it hopes to be more profitable and stable.
Texas Instruments, which reports its quarterly results on Oct.22, narrowed its expected ranges for third-quarter revenue and earnings per share (EPS) last month, suggesting that the current macro economic environment would continue to weigh on the results of semiconductor firms.
The company currently expects revenue of $3.27 billion to $3.41 billion, compared with the prior range of $3.21 billion to $3.47 billion. EPS is estimated at 38 to 42 cents, versus earlier range of 34 to 42 cents. Wall Street analysts, on average, expect EPS of 46 cents on revenue of $3.34 billion.
Recently, research firm IHS iSuppli (IHS) downgraded the outlook for the semiconductor market chip revenue, saying weakening economic conditions are causing reduced demand for PCs and related electronic components. The firm expects global semiconductor revenue to contract by 0.1 percent, compared to an earlier forecast that called for marginal growth of less than 3 percent. This would be the first time revenue in the semiconductor market have contracted since 2009.