What is Digg?188 Comments
- braineater2448, on 04/23/2008, -1/+75This seems like a fairly well thought out acquisition.
In February 2007 the chip maker released a 64-bit dual core processor which it claimed was 300 percent more efficient than any comparable offerings, consuming only 5 to 13 watts while running at 2 gigahertz.
The efficiency of mobile processors has been of particular concern for Apple, particularly as it embarks in new business directions such as mobile phones where battery life is critical. As such, the power savings offered by P.A. Semi's designs may have been amongst the firm's most compelling assets in Apple's eyes.
In a report published Monday by Lehman Brothers, analyst Ben Reitzes cited sources in saying that Intel’s Atom chip (Silverthorne) may have failed to produce the kind of battery life that that Apple was seeking for its ultra-portable designs. - wfbnadador, on 04/23/2008, -6/+80278 million IN CASH? thats one big briefcase.
- Lynxpro, on 04/23/2008, -3/+51This is bigger news than most people realize. And I can prove it based upon what happened back in late 1976.
Back in that era, there was a small chip company called M.O.S. Technologies and they made the 6502 microprocessor. For whatever reason, M.O.S. Technologies was struggling and needed to find a buyer. Al Alcorn of Atari tried to convince Manny Gerard of Warner Communications (now known as Time Warner; Warner had just acquired Atari a few months before) to buy M.O.S. Technologies but Gerard said Atari had plenty of its own problems to contend with [like finishing Stella, the Atari VCS, aka the Atari 2600]. Consequently, Jack Tramiel of Commodore was able to snatch M.O.S. Technologies up for $3 million.
Flash forward a short time. Apple, Atari, Commodore, and many other players were using the 6502 in their 8-bit home computers. In 1982, Jack Tramiel releases the Commodore 64 and launches a destructive price war not only to destroy the home computer division of his former calculator rival Texas Instruments but also to pre-emptively strike at the Japanese consumer electronics companies and keep them at bay from taking over the American industry. All of that was accomplished, but it also crushed Atari. Atari could not compete with Commodore's price cuts and it hit hard both Atari's home computer division as well as the video game division, all while Tramiel and Commodore made money off each Atari game system and computer sold due to M.O.S Technologies chips being in each product. And all of it was due to Warner not authorizing that $3 million acquisition back in 1976.
Vertical integration can be a bitch for the competition, and this acquisition may herald a return to the era of old where computer companies used their own designs. And with Microsoft's waning influence, it might also return to the age where we have an umbrella like operating system like CP/M with loose compatibility between different systems; although this time, the "CP/M" would be from the related Unix/Linux platforms. - dojonz, on 04/23/2008, -2/+39It's the iCase. Now with shipping in 278m capacity.
- jonahan52, on 04/23/2008, -6/+39I don't think some of you realize that they are a DESIGNER not MAKER of chips. They still need Intel to make them. Apple will just design them and give the blue print to Intel to manufacture.
- plizard, on 04/23/2008, -3/+34and that's why you don't have any business sense
- Wesside, on 04/23/2008, -3/+34Forbes really needs to redesign their site, there is no good reason to use 1/4 of the screen and leave the rest as white space.
- badqat, on 04/23/2008, -1/+30Doubt this has anything to do with desktop devices, but rather, is aimed at things like iPods, iPhones, and future handheld devices.
- Kyan, on 04/23/2008, -0/+28Lynzpro, ignore the juvenile punkcat. Rest assured some of us do have attention spans.
- unionaire, on 04/23/2008, -0/+26the title abbreviates ABCD!!
- TheKrillr, on 04/23/2008, -2/+21From what I understand, the Atom has some strange proprietary features in order to achieve those low-power enhancements that Apple would end up locked into if they chose it. Buying this company and designing their own chip would allow them to use similar non-standard techniques while maintaining full control over the product.
- MacEnvy, on 04/23/2008, -2/+20Are you saying Apple gained a monopoly in the microprocessor market by acquiring this tiny chip firm?
Methinks you don't understand the term "monopoly". - braineater2448, on 04/23/2008, -0/+17Why would they waste millions of dollars to 'flex their financial muscles'? Apple has never been the company to do that. They buy little tech companies every now and then and always seem to put them to good use.
- santaliqueur, on 04/23/2008, -1/+16I am surprised at the amount of people who have absolutely no clue what the word monopoly means.
- jamesdew, on 04/23/2008, -2/+17i believe Apple have about $18 billion in cash lying around not doing anything,
- jonahan52, on 04/23/2008, -2/+16Oh right. Since Microsoft never bought any companies.
- jperdomo, on 04/23/2008, -1/+14Gosh, I didn't know you felt that way. This is all so sudden... I guess... well, I love you too?
- luchid, on 04/23/2008, -1/+14Yeah, Microsoft was NEVER convicted for being a monopoly. /s
- samanathon, on 04/23/2008, -2/+14Why is that a surprise? Apple has the assets.
- barnett25, on 04/23/2008, -0/+12It may be monopolistic (or not), but it is the way I would do it if I were in charge. I can't stand the thought of relying on other companies for my companies success. Apple learned their lesson after IBM put PowerPC on the back burner and basically told Apple that they weren't that important to them.
- speedyrev, on 04/23/2008, -1/+12And they paid in pennies!
- RetroRufio, on 04/23/2008, -0/+10No dude, no.
It's an electronic transfer. A computer executes -278,000,000.00 from account "Apple" and +278,000,000.00 to account "PA Semi" - chanop, on 04/23/2008, -0/+10I use to work for NXP Semiconductors, and we use to make the PMU and some CMOS chips for the ipod, and iphone...With the way NXP has changed hands in the last few years, it was probably smart of them to just buy their own semi fabs
- JQP123, on 04/23/2008, -1/+11"Apple will just design them and give the blue print to Intel to manufacture."
They may give it to someone to manufacture ... but I doubt it will be Intel. This purpose of this acquistion is to acquire something that they felt they couldn't get from Intel. - m00nmaster, on 04/23/2008, -1/+10As always, pick the right tool for the job. If Intel couldn't put up, then this is a great move.
- aclockwork3, on 04/23/2008, -0/+9What flavor chips?
- punkcat, on 04/23/2008, -1/+1018 billion
- Charlotte_Web, on 04/23/2008, -0/+9Oh, I'm sure it's doing something.
- sandiegodude, on 04/23/2008, -0/+8I agree. More likely they're cutting out the middle man for their specific mobile technologies, which is a good thing. Their "sweet deal" with Intel is for their desktops primarily IIRC.
- Protoss, on 04/23/2008, -3/+11Doubt it, Apple wouldn't be as big without the Intel switch. And I'm sure they want to stay on one architecture.
- noseeme, on 04/23/2008, -0/+7Hit the nail on the head.
- TheKrillr, on 04/23/2008, -0/+7Performance has little to do with company size and more to do with the intelligence, quality, and teamwork of the design team. Intel's processors are actually designed by a very small team from highly-trained and educated professionals. A majority of Intel's workforce are those who put those designs into production, market said designs, etc.
From a production standpoint, few can compete with Intel who has several factories worldwide with very high production rates. However when it comes to chip design, they're nothing special. - Nexum, on 04/23/2008, -0/+7Intel mostly makes X86 chips. X86 has not traditionally been successful as an embedded instruction set. Embedded processors are typically ARM processors and require different engineering tradeoffs and experience to desktop (X86) processors.
So in the embedded space, PA-Semi can indeed compete with Intel on both price, and speed (as can many hundreds of ARM, and other IS, manufacturers). Intel has tried to overcome the issues with X86 in embedded markets for a long time, and it's fair to say they've not succeeded yet. Their Atom microarchitecture is their latest attempt, and it remains to be seen whether this will change their track record. - MyNameIsJoe, on 04/23/2008, -0/+7Ouch, -19 Diggs. Apparently they don't all love you.
- KibibyteBrain, on 04/23/2008, -0/+7The question is, is that $278x10^6 or $278x2^20?
- Lynxpro, on 04/23/2008, -1/+8Apple has billions in cash. They could always use some of that cash to set up a fab plant in the US, Europe, Taiwan, or Mexico to complement the design shop. Or...they could take the designs to IBM Semiconductor for manufacture under contract.
- DanaLynn86, on 04/23/2008, -0/+7Ad Block Plus my friend. Disable it and reload the page, it's full of colorful eye melting ads!
- cthellis, on 04/23/2008, -0/+7I dunno, but it's made me thirsty for some flavored iced tea, that's made from the best stuff on Earth.
- RetroRufio, on 04/23/2008, -4/+11Yes it is! However... "Cash" doesn't necessarily mean bills. Just a deposit into an account.
- kjm2664, on 04/23/2008, -2/+9there are 5 people who disagree with you.
- Lynxpro, on 04/23/2008, -0/+6There's nothing stopping Apple from sill using the Atom. They could license the designs to Intel for incorporating into the Atom, or they might just use this acquisition as leverage against Intel to lower their chip prices, much as AOL used Netscape as leverage against Microsoft over usage of IE.
- Lynxpro, on 04/23/2008, -1/+7Uhm, Microsoft owns the intellectual property to the PowerPC based CPU sitting inside the Xbox360. The only difference is that Microsoft subcontracted with IBM to manufacture the chip instead of them buying their own semiconductor company.
- Synchro, on 04/23/2008, -0/+6Perhaps Apple knows something you do not.
- KibibyteBrain, on 04/23/2008, -5/+11Yeah, right. Like Jobs would ever taint his designer wallet with mere American currency. The guy probably only carries more sophisticated Euros.
- andyduncan, on 04/23/2008, -2/+8Apple doesn't want to be the next Commodore, they want to be the next Amiga!
- JQP123, on 04/23/2008, -0/+6"AMD and Nvidia are completely fab-less... "
Maybe nVidia but not AMD. - KibibyteBrain, on 04/23/2008, -0/+5Still, the average professional american probably has a couple grand tucked away somewhere. That doesn't mean that a $200 hamburger would not be a big deal to them.
- robio376, on 04/23/2008, -1/+6This is not a suprise to me. Considering Apple likes to be in control of thier own hardware and build thier software around it. I thnk that is a good move on their behalf. Being a Windows user mostly, but always admired Apple with thier early adoption of the x64 architecture. I can see Apple coming out with x64 gadgets. Can't wait to see whay lies ahead!!!
- SystemError51, on 04/23/2008, -1/+6Mind sharing with us why think Apple is monopolistic? *rolls eyes* And how does the $ sign fit into Apple's name?
Bury me - flashingcurser, on 04/23/2008, -0/+5A new flavor-- apple.
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