Brett (ggtgp@yahoo.com) on 1/15/11 wrote:
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>Apple has a long history of using SOC to drive cost down and volumes up.
>Back to the IWM, the one chip Apple//c and the first Macintosh filled with PAL chips later replaced with a SOC.
>
If you had said drive quality down, costs up, and firmware engineers crazy, you might of had a winner.


>Apple has used SOC to drive first mover advantage, the iPod family is how this
>is done. Microsofts Zune was twice the size, always behind the curve.
>

Your example doesn't support your point. Apple didn't design anything to do with the ipod except the ID and interface/software. The asics were all commercial OTS.

And same with the Zune. The difference between the two is no in the hardware but in the ID and inferface/software.


>Apple owns its destiny. Apple can and would replace ARM or any other license if
>it got in the way.

>Including the cell phone radio. Apple would just buy a cell phone
>chip competitor and drive the next gen standards committees.
>
Apple likely cannot afford the remaining baseband companies. Since pretty much all the independents have already been consumed and those that haven't are doing trailing edge cost optimized.

And it is unlikely anyone can drive the next gen standards.


>USB exists because Apple got behind it and drove volumes.
>
No, not really.


> The PC companies never
>cared or understood, they kept putting PS2 ports on their PCs, to this day even.
>
And the MAC people don't understand backwards compatibility.