“Imagination Technologies, the British firm that lost 70 percent of its value after being ditched by its biggest customer Apple, put itself up for sale on Thursday in a disappointing end to a once-great European tech success story,” Kate Holton reports for Reuters.
“Founded in 1985 and listed in 1994, Imagination has been rocked by Apple’s announcement in April that it was developing its own graphics chips and would no longer use Imagination’s processing designs in 15 months to two years time,” Holton reports. “Apple’s decision, which analysts said posed an existential threat to the company, sent Imagination’s shares plummeting 70 percent on April 3 and they have barely recovered since.”
“The stock jumped as much as 21 percent on Thursday, however, after the sale announcement to 149.5 pence, giving the company a market capitalization of 425 million pounds ($538 million),” Holton reports. “Analysts said potential buyers could include Intel, Qualcomm, Mediatek, CEVA and various entities from China, while Apple itself could be interested.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Tim Cook can play hardball when he wants to. Imagination should’ve taken Apple’s March 2016 offer.
Message: Don’t fsck with Apple.
Of course, one would hope there is some mechanism in place to prevent Apple from running roughshod over suppliers, offering them lowball offers and, if they refuse, destroying their stock prices with threats of lost business while also pilfering the supplier’s key employees. (See related articles below.)
We expect such mechanism to be pursued via legal channels if Imagination Technologies feels they have been/are being railroaded. – MacDailyNews, April 4, 2017
(Unless Apple buys them, of course. Shareholders’ suits could still happen, though, depending on the deal. – MDN Ed. June 22, 2017)
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There’s more than one way to acquire a company. – MacDailyNews, October 13, 2016
SEE ALSO:
Imagination Technology starts dispute process with Apple – May 4, 2017
UBS: Imagination likely to see Apple royalties slashed, then cease altogether – April 19, 2017
It’s getting even tougher to be an Apple supplier – April 19, 2017
Without Apple, Imagination Technologies’ PowerVR has no future – April 10, 2017
Apple steps up homegrown GPU plans with London hiring spree – April 9, 2017
Why Apple’s ditching of Imagination is critical for the future of the iPhone – and maybe even the Mac – April 5, 2017
Apple aims for more control, less cost as it accelerates in chip design – April 5, 2017
Apple could look to buy Imagination Technologies after ditching the chip firm, share price plunge – April 4, 2017
Imagination Technologies’ shares collapse after Apple dumps UK chip designer – April 3, 2017
Apple nabs top talent from iPhone 7 GPU chipmaker Imagination Technologies – October 13, 2016
After failed takeover talks with Apple, Imagination Technologies sells stake to state-owned Chinese company – May 9, 2016
Apple in ‘advanced talks’ to acquire Imagination Technologies for PowerVR GPU – March 22, 2016