HP picks up Phoenix's HyperSpace, HyperCore and Flip instant-on assets for $12m
By Darren Murph 
posted June 13th 2010 6:52AM
posted June 13th 2010 6:52AM
Phoenix Technologies Announces Strategic Sale of HyperSpace Assets to HP
MILPITAS, Calif., June 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Phoenix Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq: PTEC), the global leader in core systems software (CSS), today announced that HP has agreed to purchase the assets related to Phoenix's HyperSpace®, HyperCore® and Phoenix Flip™ instant-on and client virtualization products. The consideration for the transaction is $12 million in cash and the closing is expected to occur in June 2010. This transaction is another example of Phoenix implementing its strategic decision to focus on the core systems software (BIOS) market, in which the Company has a long established leadership position.
"We are very pleased that HP has agreed to acquire these assets relating to Phoenix's HyperSpace, given HP's rich history of innovation and product differentiation," said Tom Lacey, President and CEO of Phoenix.
In January 2010, Phoenix announced that it would restore its strategic focus on its CSS business where it remains the global industry leader. To better align its resources with this strategy, in April 2010, Phoenix sold its FailSafe and Freeze assets. Divesting other non-core assets including Hyperspace and eSupport are among the Company's plans to further reduce expenses associated with non-core products. Phoenix continues to enhance its CSS technology and has already launched its SecureCore Tiano 2.0 BIOS product designed to drive future growth and market share gains as the Company executes on its BIOS-focused strategy.
About Phoenix Technologies Ltd.
Phoenix Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq: PTEC), the leader in core systems software products, services and embedded technologies, pioneers open standards and delivers innovative solutions that enable the PC industry's top system builders and specifiers to differentiate their systems, reduce time-to-market and increase their revenues. The Company's flagship products -- SecureCore Tiano™ and Embedded BIOS® -- are revolutionizing the PC user experience by delivering unprecedented performance, security, reliability, continuity, and ease-of-use. The Company established industry leadership and created the PC clone industry with its original BIOS product in 1983. Phoenix has over 200 technology patents issued and pending, and has shipped firmware in over one billion systems. Phoenix is headquartered in Milpitas, California with offices worldwide. For more information, visit http://www.phoenix.com.
Phoenix, Phoenix Technologies, SecureCore Tiano, Embedded BIOS, and the Phoenix Technologies logo are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Phoenix Technologies Ltd. All other marks are the marks of their respective owners.
To be added to the Company's email distribution for future news releases, please send your request to phoenix@tpg-ir.com.
Safe Harbor
This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, regarding the closing of the sale of our HyperSpace, HyperCore and Flip products, the sale of our eSupport business, expense reduction plans, and future growth and market share gains associated with new CSS products, which are based on current expectations, forecasts and assumptions involving risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially. These risks and uncertainties include our ability to close the HyperSpace transaction; our ability to close the HyperSpace transaction within the targeted timeframe and for the stated sale price; our ability to successfully sell our eSupport business; changes in demand for our products and services in adverse economic conditions; our dependence on key customers; our ability to enhance existing products and develop and market new products and technologies successfully; end-user demand for products incorporating our products; the ability of our customers to introduce and market new products that incorporate our products; and our ability to attract and retain key personnel. For a further list and description of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward looking statements in this release, we refer you to the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, but not limited to, its annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. All forward-looking statements included in this release are based upon assumptions, forecasts and information available to the Company as of the date hereof, and the Company assumes no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements.
Cool.
@littlea
story bro
HP = the Microsoft of hardware?
@Maybach
???
I have no idea what you're talking about, but I'll say this... the more Software IP HP buys, the more chairs are going to be smashed in the Greater Redmond Area. Ballmer might just hire J Allard, just so he can fire him twice.
This could mean HP is moving away from MS, and proactively getting ready for a new Mobile Internet future. Less Windows lisences, more WebOS devices. Cool.
@Maybach
More like the Yugo in motor industry
Nice. HP are making some good software company purchases. Will definitely help their mobile devices compete.
Can't wait to see an instant-on webOS tablet. Yummy.
@KarlW
that's what I was thinking, they should have just made an instant-on version of webOS
@JeremyBenthem
Read an article about BIOS recently and how it may be replaced by point and click interfaces...maybe this is what it's about and not mobile at all..
Dollars to a donut, this is is to speed boot time for webOS --that was one downside to the webOS software stack. Color me impressed. I just hope HP keeps doing phones too.
@trans
Yeah, we'll have WebOS tablets booting up faster than my Pixi+ and all the other WebOS phones out at the moment!
@trans Yeah the boot time on the Palm Pre was ridiculous but I am not sure that it's such a big deal on devices which should be going into sleep mode rather than fully turning off.
@trans Bingo, you've hit the nail on the head. webOS instant on? I like that idea. It would make restarting for stability more viable/logical. Homebrew would become more manageable as well, since restarts would take less time.
I only hope this can be built into existing iterations of webOS.
@trans +1 yep HP in my books are working on an instant-on iPAD killer. All the code they are buying is Linux based and so is WebOS.
Phoenix is probably pretty difficult to forget for many computer users, they'll see the name come up each time the BIOS launches.
@sockatume they are not going away they just sold the virtualization/instant on OS stuff to HP, they will still be around making bios
@sockatume
I couldn't believe what I was reading myself.
Kids today with their quickboot options and simplified startup screens...
@sockatume Engadget only uses Apple computers per their contract with that company.
@sockatume
It's easier for some writers on Engadget to be snarky than it is to do a minimum of research about a company that helped make the personal computer industry what it is today by reverse engineering the IBM PC BIOS in the early eighties.
@sockatume
It's amazing engadget claims they don't know who Phoenix is.
They must be living under their Mac rocks.
@Gamecheater
They may be a bunch of Apple-loving-post-deleting-douche-nozzling douches, but I think you guys may have missed out on the editors' sarcasm that time.
@F C If it was an attempt at sarcasm then it was a fail because when you link to other stories regarding the topic, then it seems like you are serious (and even then I would still consider it a fail because it's not even slightly amusing =p). Now there is a do-nothing run of a company called "Phoenix Technologies LLC" but they are not the same as "Phoenix Technologies Ltd" aka the BIOS people.
That is it,
Hewlett Packard confirmed to be creating a Robot-Monster phone!
Droid doesnt and Crapple Cant wont compare against the behemoth of HyperPalm Flip.
You heard it here first folks!
Couldn't agree with u more...really hope HP doesn't forget about phones.
Maybe HP/Palm will release a WebOS updte so my Pre+ will not take 3+ minutes to boot.
The obvious synergy here is to put webOS in the bios to replace the instant on stuff that is already there.
Instant-on WebOS tablet FTW!!!
That Hyperspace browser looks dangerously similar to Internet Explorer!
I still haven't gotten over the fact that they bought palm...
HTC should have made a move.
@Creativity
Thanx God they did'nt , or I would have unloaded all their stock in a heartbeat.
*sits back down normally* Can't stay on the edge of your seat for too long. Feels wierd.
Engadget 1.0!
yawn! All you little geeks don't get it. HP HAS to make these purchases for the sake of their stock. That is what wall street is looking for. The more HP buys the better wall street can bullshit their stock to investors.
HP with all their resources never needed to buy Palm. They don't even need to get into the tablet business.
And before you get into the whole "competition is good shit", the current tablet market, ala, android is so damn saturated that the players have already killed their profit margins. That is what the rush to throw android on a tablet has done. Tons of tablets with a free OS!?
Of course when you're Apple and posses your own OS and in different verities, than you can do magic.
Apple built iworks to be finger-able from the ground up! That's right. A high end, finger fucking mobile productivity suite.
BAM! And soon we will see the iphone with a version of iworks.
@pspitts Did you not hear about the "healthy" margins on the ipad? The killing of margin happens when you are forced to compete with a thousand different companies running the same thing (windows) as there will always be someone willing to make the same thing for less.
@pspitts
Well, I would agree with your "driving margins to zero" message if... those Android tablets were even on the market...
Uh, basically as of June 2010, the iPad IS the tablet market and their margins are terrific. The only way Android pushes those margins down is if... a great iPad-killer comes out and sells more than 1-2 million per month.
Until then... try to frame your predictions... as... predictions, not the current state of affairs.
@pspitts Apple Fanboy much??
Glad you enjoy paying twice as much for half baked products!
@pspitts I agree with you that Apple has great margins because it owns the OS and the hardware. Hardware alone is not enough to differentiate. Everyone running windows and android will be commoditized. Apple and now HP/Palm can create a unique experience that others can not mimic and command the margin/premium that goes with it.
How'd they get the old engadget on there...?
@ZHDTester They took it from an old article like they do with every picture.
http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/12/phoenix-technologies-hyperspace-instant-on-os-review/
@ZHDTester The secret method is called: "this picture was taken in the past". For more information, check out the third link in the article.
Mobile OS is the wave of now. Look @ the iPad/phone ecosystem. Although competition from an Android tablet would be epic.
HP slate new os anyone?
This is a "tech blog" and yet you, Darren, don't recognize the value of an instant-on OS?
Do you not use computers on a regular basis?
@ScentOfUnderstanding
"Do you not use computers on a regular basis?"
Does Mac count?
@F C
I guess not.
I'm not sure if they are going to make a phone or tablet first. Either way, this should be interesting.
engadget, you don't remember Phoenix? Jesus, I gotta find a better techblog.
Yeah you do, and we're not gonna miss ya!
@Ezye1313
So "we" as in YOU? Pretending to work for engadget or something!?!? Go home kid, the street lights are on.
@Eli Haj
NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM...
Nothing exciting here. Next