Content

TI's Aquisition of National Semiconductor: Was It a Surprise to You?

April 11, 2011

When I first got the news about TI's acquisition of National Semiconductor, the blockbuster story of a week ago, I sent the press release out to everyone in our group. Some of the comments I got back were: Wow, Shocking, I'm stunned. In the days immediately following, I began questioning those reactions. Why were we so shocked and stunned by this announcement? After all, we cover these companies all the time, from both the editorial and sales sides. Surely, someone must have had an idea this acquisition was in the works. Then I remembered a National Semiconductor press conference that I attended at Electronica back in 2008. Brian Halla, then Chairman of the Board and CEO of National Semiconductor, was the main speaker at that press conference. He talked candidly about the semiconductor industry and its relations with Washington and Wall Street. This should have been the first clue for me that something was up--of course I say this is with the benefit of 20-20 hindsight. In today's Engineering Radio program, which goes live at 2:00 pm ET, I explain what Halla said at the time, as well as one other event of note. I'd like to encourage you to express your thoughts on the acquisition. Now that you have had a week to think about it, are you still shocked or were you just not putting the pieces together? Or were you not shocked at all by last week's news and saw the acquition coming from a mile away. Let me know.

Joe Desposito Blog

Then I remembered a National Semiconductor press conference that I attended at Electronica back in 2008. Brian Halla, then Chairman of the Board and CEO of National Semiconductor, was the main speaker at that press conference. He talked candidly about the semiconductor industry and its relations with Washington and Wall Street. This should have been the first clue for me that something was up--of course I say this is with the benefit of 20-20 hindsight. In today's Engineering Radio program, which goes live at 2:00 pm ET, I explain what Halla said at the time, as well as one other event of note.

I'd like to encourage you to express your thoughts on the acquisition. Now that you have had a week to think about it, are you still shocked or were you just not putting the pieces together? Or were you not shocked at all by last week's news and saw the acquition coming from a mile away. Let me know.

About the Author

Joe Desposito Blog | Editor-in-chief

Joe Desposito has held the position of editor-in-chief of Electronic Design since July, 2007. He first joined the publication in 1998 as a technology editor covering test and measurement but quickly expanded his coverage areas to include communications and consumer electronics. In May, 2000 Joe moved to sister publication, EE Product News, as editor-in-chief, overseeing the transition of that publication from print to web only and developing e-newsletters and a companion digital publication called eepn2.

Prior to that, Joe worked as a project leader in PC Magazine’s renowned PC Labs and was one of four team members on the original PC Labs staff. In this capacity, he worked to develop the PC Labs benchmark tests for PC hardware and software. Joe holds a BEE from Manhattan College and has written many articles and several books on computers and electronics.