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Details emerge on Apple's acquisition of chip designer P.A. Semi
There weren't a whole lot of firm details on the reasons behind Apple's acquisition of chip designer P.A. Semi to be had back when the deal was announced last month, but it seems that a bit of the veil of mystery may now be lifting, at least if the word EETimes is hearing from its unnamed source is to be believed. Apparently, Apple was keen to have P.A. Semi's crack chip-making team design a new chip for them, but P.A. Semi had "more or less burnt through its venture capital funds," leaving them unable to take on the project. According to EETimes source, that meant that the only way to get P.A. Semi involved was for Apple to pay off all of P.A.'s investors and bring the company in-house, something they were able to do for a mere $280 million or so. Of course, as EETimes points out, the big question remaining is exactly what it is that Apple wants P.A. Semi to help it out with, and that's a detail we'd expect to take considerably longer to trickle out.[Via Mac Rumors]
EETimes: Apple was an investor of PA Semi before acquisition
It was just a couple weeks ago that Apple bought PA Semi, a custom PowerPC chip design firm. But now that a few details about the acquisition are leaking out, a new light has begun to shine on this subject. According to an EETimes post, Apple considered buying PA Semi back in 2005, prior to the Intel switch. Oh yeah, and one minor detail ... Apple has been an investor in the company since that time. When Apple started using Intel chips, that move sent a death threat to PA Semi.Per the EETimes story, Apple came along to purchase a new chip from PA Semi. PA Semi didn't have enough investor funding to undertake a new project. So, what does Apple do? They pay off the investors and buy the whole company. Apple bought PA Semi for $278 million -- no pocket change, that's for sure. How important could this chip be for Apple to pay that much money? Well it might just be for a new tablet Mac (remember, you heard this rumor here first).
Jobs to Intel: she means nothing to me
As we noted earlier this week Apple purchased of the chip design firm P. A. Semi and speculation has been rampant about what it all means. Well the Journal is reporting that Jobs spoke recently about Apple's relationship with Intel saying: "We have a great partnership with Intel. We expect that to continue forever." He further suggested that the acquisition was mainly to improve chips to go in portable devices and dismissed speculation about a return to the Power PC platform (the technology on which P. A. Semi's designs are based).[via MacNN]
Apple buys P.A. Semi chip designer, Intel says wha?
Apple loves 'em some Intel right? Sure, it was the Intel power-per-watt roadmap which Jobs cited as the reason to ditch IBM's PowerPC platform. Analysts have since been tripping over themselves with speculation about future generation iPhones and iPod touches going Intel -- especially since the arrival of Atom. So what will analysts make of Apple's $278 million in cash purchase of the 150 person P.A. Semi microprocessor design company? The company was founded by Dan Dobberpuhl, lead designer of DEC's doomed Alpha and StrongArm processors, and responsible for the introduction of a 2GHz, 64-bit dual-core microprocessor which in February 2007 was said to be 300% more efficient than comparable chips running at 5 to 13 watts. Forbes speculates that Apple will wrap its ARMs around the company's boutique processor in a bid for exclusivity -- a move meant to differentiate itself from competition using Intel and other off-the-shelf processors. Interestingly, after a long courtship with P.A. Semi, the acquisition discussions only began in the last few weeks. Say what you want about Jobs, but he's nothing if not a man who knows what he wants and makes damn sure he gets it.Update: Oh shazam! We just remembered that P.A. Semi and Apple had been this close to a deal just prior (as in minutes) to the announced Intel switch in 2006. Interesting, very interesting. Why now Apple?Read -- P.A. Semi PWRficient processor announcementRead -- Forbes
Apple considered small chip startup over Intel?
Steve Jobs' announcement -- almost a year ago, now -- that Apple was transitioning to x86 processors was one of the most shocking bits of news that the industry had ever heard, and yet there were a group of employees at a startup chip manufacturer called PA Semi who were even more shocked than most, according to reports, because right up until that keynote, they were sure that their company, and not Intel, would be chosen to supply the brains for what's now known as the MacBook family of laptops. The Register is reporting that PA Semi had a close relationship with Apple in the months prior to the switch, and that the two companies were working together to gauge the feasibility of running native PowerPC-coded software on 2GHz dual-core chips that PA Semi claims run at only a third of the 21 to 25 watts consumed by Intel's Core Duo models. Sources who spoke to El Reg say that executives were virtually positive that they'd win the contract, and that CEO Dan Dobberpuhl was understandably "furious" when he found out PA Semi had been passed over. The company still has a bright future developing chips for the embedded market and storage devices, but they'll probably never again have the opportunity to become an instantly-recognized name like Intel, AMD, or IBM.
