Apple's Purchase of PA Semiconductor for Assets, Not Products

Referencing back to yesterday's story regarding Apple's unexpected purchase of PA Semiconductor, an article over at EETime has pointed out that the move was more likely motivated by the promise of intellectual property and development expertise.

On Monday, two days prior to news of the buyout taking place, PA Semiconductor had warned customers of a potential buyout by a then-unnamed company. This buyout would be entirely disconnected from the firm's existing and future architectures.

Instead, the buyout seems to have been more focused on acquiring more abstract intellectual developments and engineering staff, thereby leaving the door open for Apple to incorporate Intel's Atom platform for future Apple designs, especially in the mobile market.

PA Semiconductor is currently renowned for its development of highly efficient embedded processors, such as a dual-core 64-bit PowerPC chip capable of running at 2 GHz while only using 15 watts of power. This chip, though no longer useful to Apple after the company's switch to Intel's x86 architecture, has been seen as outperforming competing products in its field while running more efficiently.

Oddly enough, Apple's purchase of PA Semiconductor may leave the company's customers, including those in the U.S. military, out in the cold. Although the firm is still considered a startup company, PA Semiconductor has already garnered unprecedented success in selling its products to the military and is heavily invested in military technology. The company currently produces more than 10 defense devices, including units in collaboration with Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, which uses the firm's power-efficient processor in every branch of the armed services.

Sources close to the story have stated that PA Semiconductor is uninterested in continuing development of those chips and may farm out production on end-of-life terms only if it can transfer a third-party technology license.

EETimes