Technology news and Jobs arrow VIRTUALISATION arrow Apple buys chip designer
Apple buys chip designer E-mail
by Stephen Withers   
Thursday, 24 April 2008
Apple has acquired semiconductor design firm PA Semi.

That company develops low-power, high-performance microprocessors based on IBM's PowerPC architecture. Ironically, Apple dropped PowerPC processors in favour of Intel CPUs in 2006.

According to reports, Apple has not purchased PA Semi for its existing or planned products, but rather for its technology and talent so that Apple can work more effectively with its chip suppliers such as Intel and Samsung.

According to The Register, Apple came close to using PA Semi's processors in the Macintosh range before settling on Intel.

However, some observers believe Apple might still use its new acquisition's chips in future devices such as a set-top box.

While the value of the deal has not been disclosed, it has been estimated to be in the $US250 million to $US280 million range.

At the time of writing, PA Semi's website was unavailable, having "surpassed its bandwidth allocation at the present time."

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