Report: Apple wants PA Semi's engineers, not its chips
PA Semi, acquired by Apple earlier this week, has been telling its former customers that Apple has no interest in its products, according to a report.
EETimes is reporting that PA Semi started telling its customers in the military hardware industry that it was about to be acquired by a company that wanted only its intellectual property and employees.
On Tuesday night, we learned that Apple was that company via a Forbes report that said the Mac maker wanted to put PA Semi's PWRficient processors in its iPhone.
The PWRficient processors are used in military systems built by defense contractors such as Raytheon and Lockheed Martin, companies reportedly annoyed by the possibility that the PWRficient processor might be coming to a quick end. According to EETimes, PA Semi told those contractors that after the acquisition, supply of the chips could not be guaranteed.
And that, apparently, could cause problems for Apple. The report says those contractors are going to complain about the acquisition to the U.S. Department of Defense.
I can't imagine that the deal would be overturned just because of a few complaints to the military, but Apple might be forced to figure out a way to transfer that portion of PA Semi's assets to another chipmaker that could satisfy Uncle Sam's need for the chips.
Tom Krazit writes about the ever-expanding world of Internet search, including Google, Yahoo, online advertising, and portals, as well as the evolution of mobile computing. He has written about traditional PC companies, chip manufacturers, and mobile computers, spending the last three years covering Apple. E-mail Tom. 
for future Apple Products , rumors of a yet not mature tablet
device have been circulating around the Apple related website
and most of the device where not presented or demoed yet as
the battery technology would not prove efficient enough . Jobs
has the habit of thinking out of the box and took the problem
where it mattered diminishing power consumption instead of
ever increasing battery size and hence device weight. Peyrin
designs are fine for power use applications but have little to no
real chance of making it to the laptop and Apple WANTS to bring
to the consumer a seamless experience about its product line.
Mac os X is highly portable so software is not an issue at all.
http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2008/04/24/why-did-apple-
buy-pa-semi/
LOL
Anybody thinking Apple is somehow keeping the rest of the industry from
innovating needs to have their head examined. Seriously, how would Apple
"hinder" the rest of the industry by grabbing some advanced technology and
using it to advance THEIR products? What is so wrong with that?
If PA Semi has something cool that Apple knows what to do with to make
another groundbreaking / industry changing product (eg: iPhone) then by all
means they should go ahead and do just that.
And by doing that they are changing the industry for the better, not hindering
it.
- Crypto in Hardware?
- by mbotke April 28, 2008 10:24 PM PDT
- Jailbroken iPhones and commercial Hackintosh computers? I submit that Apple may be looking for a more complex way of maintaining better control of the Apple ecosystem.
- Like this Reply to this comment
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(9 Comments)I'm no EE or computer science guy though...