Apple buys chip design company
Very interesting...!
Apple has agreed to buy a boutique microprocessor design company called PA Semi. The company, which is known for its design of sophisticated, low-power chips, could spell a new future for Apple’s flagship iPhone, and possibly iPod products as well…
“Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not comment on our purposes and plans,” said Apple spokesman Steve Dowling. He declined to comment on the value of the deal, which a person familiar with the deal suggested was done for $278 million in cash. Apple is due to announce its quarterly earnings today…
Apple first got to know the designers at P.A. Semi about three years ago, when the computer maker still used PowerPC chips in its Macintosh computers. Dobberpuhl and his team, which includes engineers who had a hand in designing powerful chips, including Intel’s Itanium, Advanced Micro Devices’ Operton and Sun Microsystems’ UltraSparc. Dobberpuhl was also the lead designer on a DEC chip project called StrongARM, which was ultimately folded into Intel after DEC collapsed. Intel tried to use the design as the basis of chips for the smart-phone industry, but eventually sold that group to Marvell.
Har! Who doesn’t this upset?
Posted: Wed - April 23, 2008 at 07:28 PM