Dialog buys Atmel

[ralphd]

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSKCN0RK0J420150920

[free_electron]

another one bites the dust ...

[Quarlo Klobrigney]

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSKCN0RK0J420150920

[Rasz]

Who the F### is Dialog?
Just looked at their product page, checked usual product names/marking style and I can safely say I have never seen a single chip of theirs, and Iv been servicing electronics for the last 15 years.

[free_electron]

Who the F### is Dialog?
Just looked at their product page, checked usual product names/marking style and I can safely say I have never seen a single chip of theirs, and Iv been servicing electronics for the last 15 years.

WHOA.  hole in your knowledge base. ...

Dialog has been around for a loooong time. they are a large ASIC maker with very few standard products. They made a couple of audio processors (for PC motherboards AC97 compliant) and image processors in the late 90's early 2000.  They have been dabbling in  very specialised stuff like harddisk amplifiers and signal recovery for a long time. they do a lot of custom chips for things like lambda probes, knock sensors and automotive stuff.
they have been making power management chips since before the word PMIC was coined.

open any iPad and the main power controller is a dialog semiconductor. This devices has like 500 pins and contains 27 switching step down , 3 or 4 step-ups, the battery chargers , and like 30 LDO regulators. It is a beast !

[Stonent]

I certainly hope AVRs are here to stay. Otherwise I might have to learn PIC. 

[Quarlo Klobrigney]

How dare you make such utterances! Blasphemy. I will switch to ARM first.

I certainly hope AVRs are here to stay. Otherwise I might have to learn PIC. 

[Rasz]

Who the F### is Dialog?
Just looked at their product page, checked usual product names/marking style and I can safely say I have never seen a single chip of theirs, and Iv been servicing electronics for the last 15 years.

WHOA.  hole in your knowledge base. ...

Im guessing it will be the same for every person not doing heavy corporate design

Dialog has been around for a loooong time. they are a large ASIC maker with very few standard products.
 They made a couple of audio processors (for PC motherboards AC97 compliant) and image processors in the late 90's early 2000.  They have been dabbling in  very specialised stuff like harddisk amplifiers and signal recovery for a long time. they do a lot of custom chips for things like lambda probes, knock sensors and automotive stuff.
they have been making power management chips since before the word PMIC was coined.

no wonder I never heard of them, kinda hard to know about a company that doenst leave its own name or even logo on parts

open any iPad

and you will see Apple marked custom chips with only source of spares being trash bin
open any macbook and you will see standard TI/SMC/Linear/Intersil power parts

[EEVblog]

Who the F### is Dialog?
Just looked at their product page, checked usual product names/marking style and I can safely say I have never seen a single chip of theirs, and Iv been servicing electronics for the last 15 years.

WHOA.  hole in your knowledge base. ...

My reaction was the same, who the hell is Dialog.
After a few minutes thought, I do recall I have heard of them somewhere along the line, but I couldn't tell you what to save my life.

[free_electron]

Like i said : they have very few standard parts. They really are an ASIC builder.

[marshallh]

Think they're drinking the IoT koolaid?

[EEVblog]

Think they're drinking the IoT koolaid?

The FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) is strong in this one.

[HackedFridgeMagnet]

If someone can just fill me in, I don't have much detail on this and don't feel like investigating.

What do they have that is worth owning? 
They don't seem to be very profitable and probably not well positioned for the future.
Lucky they sold?

[ralphd]

Who the F### is Dialog?
Just looked at their product page, checked usual product names/marking style and I can safely say I have never seen a single chip of theirs, and Iv been servicing electronics for the last 15 years.

WHOA.  hole in your knowledge base. ...

My reaction was the same, who the hell is Dialog.
After a few minutes thought, I do recall I have heard of them somewhere along the line, but I couldn't tell you what to save my life.

I first heard of them when I was workng in telecom in the 90's.

[EEVblog]

If someone can just fill me in, I don't have much detail on this and don't feel like investigating.
What do they have that is worth owning? 

They have a lot of stuff, but you'd have to look at an annual report or some other thing to determine where their bulk revenue is coming from.

[ajb]

Think they're drinking the IoT koolaid?

Sounds like:

"The rationale for our acquisition is to build a complementary business to power savings and power management and it gives us a better platform for the 'Internet of Things'," Jalal Bagherli, Dialog's Chief Executive, said in an interview.

Besides microcontrollers, Atmel also has touch-screen and encryption technology that attracted Dialog, he said. There is only a 5 percent overlap in the two companies' product lines, Bagherli added.

The latter part sounds like a more sensible business proposition.  If Dialog is big into power and sensing but doesn't have a big MCU portfolio, then acquiring someone who does seems like a sensible move. 

[Barny]

Dialog?

Is that the same company which build Dialog CNC-control systems?
I know the name Dialog only from control systems of very old Deckel CNC machines.

Deckel (translated: lid) is a German company which had build milling machines.
This and the company Maho is now a part of the company Gildemeister (translated: guild master)which is still building milling machines and Lathes called DMG.
(Tey are now part of the japanese company called Mori Seiki)

Funfact:
Mori Seiki milling machines have build in GPS systems.
When you move the machine or switch it off for a longer time, you have to get a unique one time valid code from the company, to be able to turn it on.
Our good friends the US and A have found some mills from them in Nord Korea and want to prevent that the get more.
Mori Seiki have to build in this GPS system in their control systems when they want to export theire machines.
Positives side effect: Planned obsolescence. Mori Seiki can decide when its time for a new machine, not the owner.
That system is absolute funny if you have to get the code during the golden week.

[LabSpokane]

From the NYT:

The transaction, expected to close in the first quarter of 2016, will boost Dialog’s earnings in 2017, Dialog said, and result in annual cost savings of $150 million within two years.

Get ready for a massive wave of layoffs. I wonder if they plan to really whittle down Atmel's product line or shut down a fab.

[andersm]

If Dialog is big into power and sensing but doesn't have a big MCU portfolio, then acquiring someone who does seems like a sensible move.

This line from the Reuters story is telling:

Dialog, which is heavily exposed to Apple and Samsung, said the deal would diversify its client base in automotive markets as well as network-connected chips used in industrial gear, also known as the "Internet of Things".

If smartphone makers are paying you enough that you can buy Atmel, you have to figure they're looking to replace you. The Reuters story also mentions that their first choice was ams, so it really sounds like they were buying whoever they could.

[tszaboo]

I really dont like this. The two company is completely differently managed, different markets, different customer base.
Dialog doesnt talk to you unless you buy millions, they have cents a pop profit on it. When I'm buying from Atmel, ST, TI, NXP, AD, Linear I dont really care how much it costs, but I need a few to a few thousand thousand tomorrow, worst case in a few weeks. Also I need industrial grade not the customer one, not IoT rated, not iPad rated.
If dialog buys Atmel, we can kiss goodbye to the small customers. Including the Arduino folks. They are quite important for a number of reasons.
Look at this page:
http://www.dialog-semiconductor.com/content/dialog-semiconductor-acquire-atmel-46-billion
page 1 contains the word synergy multiple times. The word, if a executive manager uses, should be executed immediately (pun intended).

[EEVblog]

If dialog buys Atmel, we can kiss goodbye to the small customers. Including the Arduino folks. They are quite important for a number of reasons.

But not important financially (to an MBA mind at least)

[GNU_Ninja]

Seems like my decision to go with PIC for hobbyist use was a good one

I do quite like the Arduino stuff, it would be a crying shame if this buyout killed or damaged it 

[ralphd]

From the NYT:

The transaction, expected to close in the first quarter of 2016, will boost Dialog’s earnings in 2017, Dialog said, and result in annual cost savings of $150 million within two years.

Get ready for a massive wave of layoffs. I wonder if they plan to really whittle down Atmel's product line or shut down a fab.

I think Atmel uses 3rd-party fabs for their MCUs now.

[Macbeth]

Funnily enough I just downloaded Microchip MPLAB 3.10 last night after I upgraded my TL866 to ICSP and salvaged a few PICs to have a play with.

It's gotta be better than that abomination Atmel Studio 6.2 

[Bud]

Microchip must have been partying, drinking and table dancing since the news came out