We first learned that Apple could be involved in a bid for Toshiba back in March that we noted could be bad news for Samsung. This was later confirmed in an April report from Japan. Last week we posted a report titled "Foxconn's Terry Gou Confirms that Apple and Amazon are backing Foxconn's bid for Toshiba's Memory Chip Business." Today a new twist is being reported by Reuters and the game of musical chairs continues.

In a new Reuters report this morning, they claim that Foxconn now says that Dell is joining the bid along with Apple. Beyond Dell, "Terry Gou, Foxconn's founder and chief executive, said U.S.-based Kingston Technology Co, a maker of memory products, would also be part of the bidding group, while Amazon.com Inc was close to joining.

The story gets crazier the Foxconn noting that they're also in discussions with Alphabet Inc's Google, Microsoft and Cisco about their participation in the bid.

The one sure thing, Gou said is that "I can tell you Apple is in for sure," adding that its participation had been approved by the Chief Executive Tim Cook and Apple's board of directors.

Foxconn, however, has not been seen as a frontrunner for the unit due to its deep ties with China, where it manufactures much of its products. The Japanese government has said it will block any deal that would risk the transfer of key chip technology out of the country.

But Gou said that Foxconn-led consortium contained no Chinese capital and had the advantage of not inviting as much antitrust scrutiny as other suitors.

"The key is that we are all customers, we are users," he said.

Toshiba has favoured a separate bid from U.S. chipmaker Broadcom which has partnered with U.S. private equity firm Silver Lake to offer 2.2 trillion yen, people familiar with the matter have told Reuters." Though "people familiar with the matter" as proof doesn't always pan out,  as the bidding process continues.

About Making Comments on our Site: Patently Apple reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit any comments. Those using abusive language or negative behavior will result in being blacklisted on Disqus.