Dialog plunges on rumours of Apple ditching chipmaker

Dialog Semiconductor risks losing a crucial supply deal with Apple, according to a financial analyst who cut his rating on the stock on Tuesday, sending the Anglo-German chipmaker’s shares down by as much as one-third.

Bankhaus Lampe cut its rating on Dialog to “sell” from “hold” as it argued in a research note that Apple was working on its own battery-saving chip for the iPhone that could replace Dialog’s power management integrated circuits (PMIC) as early as 2019.

Apple accounted for more than 70 per cent of Dialog’s 2016 sales, the broker estimated.

Shares in Dialog fell as much as 36 per cent