LONDON — Word on the street is that there is still a little more light to be shed on the saga of P.A. Semi and Apple.
Readers will remember that the news broke that Apple had acquired PA Semi for $278 million in cash on April 23.
Subsequently a source has said that Apple was an investor in P.A.Semi prior to the acquisition. I haven't been able to find anything in the public domain about this but strategic investors sometimes prefer to go unlisted. This does make some sense as a relationship was known to exist between the two companies and it had been reported elsewhere that Apple considered buying P.A.Semi in 2005.
This was at the time Apple rejected the PowerPC and went with Intel and its expertly manufactured x86 processors to run its computers. This was bad news for P.A.Semi, which was working with a PowerPC architectural license — Apple's previous processor architecture of choice — and the change at Apple put P.A. Semi in a difficult place.
But now, apparently, Apple sees another opportunity for the P.A.Semi design team and wants a new chip designed. The problem was that P.A. Semi had more or less burnt through its venture capital funds. The only way to get the project funded was for Apple to pay off the other investors and bring P.A. Semi in-house, the source said.
And, of course, due to its triple success in the Mac, the iPod and the iPhone, Apple is now sitting on a pile of cash and $280 million to acquire the design team, its know-how and patents is apparently an acceptable price to pay.
The question remains as to what opportunity Apple sees for the P.A.Semi design team. It is worth pointing out that personal computers (Mac), personal entertainment systems (iPod) and personal communications (iPhone) are in the processing of being merged together to create the Mobile Internet Device (MID) and my best guess is that Apple wants something related to 4G — probably a scalable multimedia application processor — that can handle streams of graphics and video we are all going to be inundated with in a couple of years' time.
Related articles:
Intel versus ARM: it's ARM for now
Analysts: Apple's 3G iPhone coming June 9
Apple revenues up 43% on Mac sales
Any comments can be sent to pclarke@techinsights.com and please put "email to the editor" in the subject line if you are willing to have these emails published.
RSS
Digital
10 emerging technologies to watch:
EE Times has compiled a list of emerging technologies that we think will be worth watching out for in 2010. Biofeedback or thought-control of electronics are among the contenders.
Hot applications in 2010:
We've compiled a list of 10 technology applications you should watch for in 2010, ranging from e-book readers to 3-D TVs. We examine the features that make these apps so compelling as well unresolved issues.
Top 25 predictions for semis in 2010:
2010 is just beginning to unfold in the electronics industry. Looking into our crystal ball, we have released our own chip forecasts--and other predictions--for 2010.
Seven things to fix in 2010:
The editors of EE Times came up with their own informal list of things we hope engineers fix in 2010, spanning everything from nano-lithography to space travel. What do you want to see get done this year?
'09 moves that are shaping the future:
This was a brutal year, but the industry gets a nod for showing grace under fire. Here's our Top 10 guide to the coming year, illustrating what to expect in 2010.
10 CEOs out in 2009:
It's been a tough year for the global electronics industry and CEOs. We survey the dismissal of 10 industry CEOs during the first three quarters of 2009 and what's ahead for the rest of the year.
Notable women in microelectronics:
There is no better time than a global economic recession to examine the keys to successful corporate governance. So, EE Times has compiled an international list that celebrates women who are business and technology leaders in semis.
EE Times updates Silicon 60:
Seventeen companies have been added to the lastest version of our Silicon 60 list of emerging startups. Forty-three companies survived as emerging companies that are still worth watching.
RSS| 
Digital| 
Mobile
