Nvidia buys iPod chip supplier

Nvidia is buying PortalPlayer, Apple's supplier of the MP3 decoder and controller chip that goes inside your iPod.

Founded in 1999, PortalPlayer also supplies silicon for Sandisk media players, and counts Bang & Olufsen, Philips and Samsung as customers.

The headline price for the Silicon Valley semiconductor firm is $357m, but the real price Nvidia is paying is the $161 million net of cash on PortalPlayer's balance sheet as of September 30, 2006.
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