“Word today is that Apple is buying PA Semi. The reported price is $278 million in cash,” Arik Hesseldahl writes for BusinessWeek.
“This is unexpected, but in light of Apple’s strategic direction, and competitive developments, makes complete sense. PA Semi, launched in 2003, focuses on building powerful embedded processors that are highly power efficient,” Hesseldahl writes.
“But what’s curious about this purchase is about the chip it produces. PA Semi’s chips are built on the Power architecture, which for years was the basis of the Mac during the PowerPC years. All that internal Apple experience developing for the PowerPC architecture is clearly going to come into play once again,” Hesseldahl writes. “But where in Apple’s lineup will the chip appear?”
Hesseldahl writes, “The reports say that Tony Fadell, head of Apple’s iPod division spearheaded the acquisition, which is a pretty strong indicator of where the chip is likely to be used: In future iPods and iPhones, and future products in that family. It’s also a pretty strong indicator of whose chip will not be used in those products: Intel’s.”
“Intel had been hoping to get a version of its new Atom processor into some next-generation iPhone, but its hopes now seem dashed,” Hesseldahl writes.
“There are probably devices in Apple’s pipeline that are related to the iPod and iPhone but otherwise very different and far more versatile than what has come before. They’re going to need a powerful computing engine in them, but since they’ll probably be mobile, it will have to a miser when it comes to power consumption. The thinking inside Apple must be that it will be easier to have an in-house chip that it can customize to its needs, rather than a third-party chip,” Hesseldahl writes.
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader "Peter" for the heads up.]
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