Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Apple Corporate, Apple
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).
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
kevnin said 8:36PM on 5-07-2008
...or something for the iphone.
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dagamer34 said 8:38PM on 5-07-2008
Tablet Mac rumor has existed since the dawn of time. Don't claim fame to something that isn't yours!
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Ed said 9:00PM on 5-07-2008
Whatever it is, it's something big. We're unlikely to see it until MacWorld '09 or maybe even later, I think. They're going to want to focus on the iPhone this year.
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terpack said 9:18PM on 5-07-2008
2010 the Year of the X!!!
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julian said 9:20PM on 5-07-2008
no way.
we've all discussed this before
Apples is NOT switching back from Intel
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mattyohe said 9:36PM on 5-07-2008
Cory, you're going to have a hard time saying "I told you so" considering a tablet-like Mac has been in the air forever.
If you've got something of substance, spill it.
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Virtuous said 11:48PM on 5-07-2008
News like this makes great fodder for blogs such as TUAW.
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Poncho Pilate said 3:12PM on 5-08-2008
Apple have been investing in processor technology for decades, particularly the ARM architecture of which the founder of PA Semi worked on extensively.
This is NOT news.
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