San Francisco, Dec 14 (IANS): Apple is in talks to acquire Israeli fabless semiconductor maker Anobit for $400-500 million, Xinhua reported.
Apple is likely interested in Herzliya Pituach, Israel-based Anobit for an exclusive access to its embedded flash controllers which can significantly boost memory performance of smartphones and tablet computers, said technology news site TechCrunch, citing Israeli newspaper Calcalist.
Apple already uses Anobit's technology in iPhone, iPad and the MacBook Air.
If the deal works out, it could be Apple's largest acquisition ever, surpassing its $404 million purchase of NeXT in 1997.
It could also become Apple's first acquisition in Israel and the first with Tim Cook as the chief executive officer of the company since its iconic leader Steve Jobs passed away in early October.