Apple is Licensee and Investor of Imagination Technology

[MacRumors]

http://www.macrumors.com/images/macrumorsthreadlogo.gif (http://www.macrumors.com/2008/12/18/apple-is-licensee-and-investor-of-imagination-technology/)

According to a press release (http://www.imgtec.com/corporate/newsdetail.asp?NewsID=420) from Imagination Technologies Group, Apple is "subscribing for" 8,200,000 new shares of Imagination Technologies Group which means Apple will have an ownership interest of 3.6% in the company. The press release also reveals that Apple is a licensee of Imagination's technology.

This is the first public confirmation that Apple is both a licensee and investor in the company which is responsible (http://toucharcade.com/2008/07/07/under-the-hood-the-iphones-gaming-mettle/) the PowerVR 3D chipset for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

In September (http://www.macrumors.com/2008/09/04/apple-licensing-imaginations-powervr-graphics-cores-for-future-products/), Imagination Technologies announced that they had secured a new "multi-year, multi-use license agreement" with an unnamed company that gave access to both current and future PowerVR graphics and video cores. Apple was speculated to be the licensee at that time.

Combined with the acquisition of P.A. Semi (http://www.macrumors.com/2008/04/23/apple-to-acquire-chipmaker-p-a-semi-for-278-million/) and ARM licensing (http://www.macrumors.com/2008/07/30/arm-announces-major-new-licensee-is-it-apple/), it seems Apple has assembled everything it needs to build out new custom iPhones, iPod Touches or other mobile devices.


Article Link: Apple is Licensee and Investor of Imagination Technology (http://www.macrumors.com/2008/12/18/apple-is-licensee-and-investor-of-imagination-technology/)

[Lone Deranger]

Cool beans... but once again I wonder... Apple what about the Mac?!

[yoyo5280]

they better be working just as hard at snow leopard.

[rvk27]

that is just awesome
cant even think of the possibilities

[talkingfuture]

I am looking forward to see the fruits of these developments.

[drlunanerd]

Good to see Apple investing in a UK company :)

[heisetax]

Cool beans... but once again I wonder... Apple what about the Mac?!

The Mac seems to be more about cute & small rather than letting the job needed to be done lead to the form. They forgot about updating the 17" Intel MacBook Pro. Was it because they want to make it the Mac Mini of laptops, or are they just going to get rid of it by saying that sales are too small. But if the computer is like the Mac Mini & not updated, there will come a time when no one will want to buy one. This opens up more pressure on computer makers to make computers that can easily be made into a Mac Clone. The lack of Apple support for the Mac will put more & more pressure on 24-25 year loyal Mac Users to go the Clone route.

The looks may not be there but my Intel MacPro is behind my 30" display, so I never see it. The lack of an easy open & close CD/DVD makes that part no good, but that's been with us for years & will probably never change. I'd rather have a computer that will do the job for a reasonable price,rather than one that just looks cute, does the job that Apple mandates, & is priced higher than many people have to spend.

[chabig]

I think you'll see a 17" MacBook Pro soon enough.

[themoonisdown09]

That's awesome news. There are so many possibilities that will open up now.

I think you'll see a 17" MacBook Pro soon enough.

I agree. Apple chose the best selling Macbook Pro to upgrade at the time. The 17" will be upgraded the next time around.

[BornAgainMac]

Another subject that Phil will talk about since Steve Jobs won't next month.

[javierbds]

It seems Apple is finally going to take gaming seriously (handheld gaming, that is). :cool:

[ChipotleApple]

Did anyone else notice that Imagination Technologies jumped to 51 GBP on this? If Apple is buying these shares @ 39 GBP they just made 150 million on the deal. Wish I owned Imagination stock, but way to go Apple.

[zombitronic]

Did anyone else notice that Imagination Technologies jumped to 51 GBP on this? If Apple is buying these shares @ 39 GBP they just made 150 million on the deal. Wish I owned Imagination stock, but way to go Apple.

That's gotta be a nice little surprise for all the other shareholders. On the other hand, Imagination Technologies stock is right around a 5 1/2 year low. I wish I had a flux capacitor.

[Rocketman]

BTW that's a measley $5m bucks. Purchased for 39p, and in the past 3 months it has been at 70p. It is a 10p ordinary on the London Stock Exchange. A common stock.

Rocketman

Here's a 5.6mb pdf of their 2008 annual report:

http://www.v-serv.com/apple/IMGAnnualReport2008.pdf

[eastcoastsurfer]

The Mac seems to be more about cute & small rather than letting the job needed to be done lead to the form. They forgot about updating the 17" Intel MacBook Pro. Was it because they want to make it the Mac Mini of laptops, or are they just going to get rid of it by saying that sales are too small. But if the computer is like the Mac Mini & not updated, there will come a time when no one will want to buy one. This opens up more pressure on computer makers to make computers that can easily be made into a Mac Clone. The lack of Apple support for the Mac will put more & more pressure on 24-25 year loyal Mac Users to go the Clone route.

The looks may not be there but my Intel MacPro is behind my 30" display, so I never see it. The lack of an easy open & close CD/DVD makes that part no good, but that's been with us for years & will probably never change. I'd rather have a computer that will do the job for a reasonable price,rather than one that just looks cute, does the job that Apple mandates, & is priced higher than many people have to spend.

I completely agree. The only problem with your statement is that Apple doesn't care about the long term mac owners. They clearly only want the 'oh shiny' crowd. When it comes to actually getting work done at a reasonable cost, macs fall short is numerous ways.

[tgildred]

I completely agree. The only problem with your statement is that Apple doesn't care about the long term mac owners. They clearly only want the 'oh shiny' crowd. When it comes to actually getting work done at a reasonable cost, macs fall short is numerous ways.


Really? Cause I'm getting a lot of work done on mine. I've been a Mac user since 1999 and my macs (3 total) have all delivered from my iBook to my most recent Macbook Pro. Does that count as long term? I just don't know anymore.

[farmboy]

I completely agree. The only problem with your statement is that Apple doesn't care about the long term mac owners. They clearly only want the 'oh shiny' crowd. When it comes to actually getting work done at a reasonable cost, macs fall short is numerous ways.

Right. We've used Macs for business purposes since the 1980's. I'll match our productivity against a Windows shop any time. Besides, Mac productivity has been proven so many times in objective third party studies, how could you miss this?

What constitutes "Apple...[caring] about long term Mac owners". I can usually upgrade our units for years after purchase. Unless, of course, you're a Windows user and think that you absolutely need parallel ports and floppy disks?

[chrmjenkins]

This will serve to quiet some of the "iphone killer" crowd. With a direct license of ARM and ImgTch cores, Apple will have the ability to make custom combinations no one else will have, and they will be able to develop future iphones and ipods IN PARALLEL with their chipset creation. So, while all other phone makers are waiting for eval boards or specs from the SoC manufacturers, Apple is well on their way to building their new products.

Hopefully, with complete control over the hardware which needs to run the software, we'll get a nice and stable safari :p

[JGowan]

Cool beans... but once again I wonder... Apple what about the Mac?!You people, who are always going on and on about Apple divorcing their computer business for iPods and iPhones, have short memories. What about the ALL NEW laptops they just rolled out, built completely new/improved from the ground up? An incredible new 24" LED Monitor? iMacs given a brand new look with AI on the front and great specs in the 2nd Q of this year*? All signs certainly point to a Mac Pro refresh at MW, with probably a refresh of the iMac and the Mac mini.

My perspective is this: Apple wants to do for its WHOLE product line with what it did for the laptops -- Lasers and Water and Aluminum, oh my! They want the fit and finish of everything they sell to be on a completely other level to everything else sold. This takes time, people! C'mon!

Personally, the Apple's line-up is awesome in my opinion. The Mini, yes, the mini -- how I hope it sticks around. Who knows. I love mine. It has never given me a moments trouble and has never crashed for any reason.

We need to realize that as big as Apple's numbers are due iPods and iPhones, it's still a pretty small company. It does a lot and has it fingers in lots of pies. It is not your Father's Apple Computer, Inc.

They forgot about updating the 17" Intel MacBook Pro. Was it because they want to make it the Mac Mini of laptops, or are they just going to get rid of it by saying that sales are too small.Their decision was pure and simple -- create their own supply and demand. They did it when they went from Titanium to AI -- 17s and 12s first, as they were NEW sizes. By leaving out the 15" (the most popular), they forced those that "couldn't wait" to buy on either end. Once they got as many early adopters as possible, the started shipping the updated 15".

This time, they flipped it, leaving out the most expensive 17". They led with the 13" and 15" to sell more of those. Some people who want a 17" will still buy a 15" and then turn around and get the 17" when it updates, giving or selling their new 15". There are people who have money for these types of purchases. They feel it's like leasing a car. Using the part that you want or need and moving on when you feel like it.

Also, the 17" is definitely a pro computer and the pros want a MATTE screen -- sounds like a great time to move some back stock which, as Tim Cook deems, is "inherently evil".

I completely agree. The only problem with your statement is that Apple doesn't care about the long term mac owners. They clearly only want the 'oh shiny' crowd. When it comes to actually getting work done at a reasonable cost, macs fall short is numerous ways.Should Mercedes cost the same price as a Ford Taurus? They're both cars. Besides -- your "reasonable cost" comment has been run through the ACME computer calculator ad nauseam. Take a Dell or HP or Sony baseline computer and spec it out to what Apple starts with (not a piece of low-powered junk) and Apple tends to be the same or lower priced. Then factor in that the computer your getting is a work of art inside and out --- worth the money. Oh yeah... it runs the best OS in the world, hands down. I buy a new rig every 4-6 years. I buy it to last. It's worth a few extra C-notes to get it right for that length of time.

Remember, hardly anyone simply buys the low tier Dell,... they use it as a starting point to build the computer they really want. You know this, you're just stirring the pot.

JGowan



*Bought the top of the line (24" Display/3.06GHz/4GB Ram/1TB HD) -- some incredible tech.

[fendol]

Did anyone else notice that Imagination Technologies jumped to 51 GBP on this? If Apple is buying these shares @ 39 GBP they just made 150 million on the deal. Wish I owned Imagination stock, but way to go Apple.

Absolutely, this move by Apple stirred their shares and made them more valuable (since they are valuable to Apple). If they do sell them now they just made a ton of profit, but I think they're there to stay. I wonder if this information was revealed to a few selected ones within the company (or close the company), as anyone with inside information could have made a killing by buying stocks before Apple and selling them now :p:apple:http://www.seoagora.com/img/589/d08l1104oulu/smiley2.gifhttp://www.seoagora.com/img/459/k08q1024glza/ecstatic.gifhttp://www.seoagora.com/img/308/s08e1024rvou/champagne.gif

[wizard]

Maybe this is a stretch but I suspect that the timing of this release of information was carefully timed. I take this as an indication that hardware taking advantage of this IP will hit early in the new year. This could be seen as Apple and it's partners getting all their ducks in a row so that investors aren't caught off guard.

IPod Maxi looks like a go. That and the next generation of iPhone's. We are likely to see the next gen iPhone arrive with a faster lower power processor and maybe the rumored iPhone Nano.

The other thing this seems to offer up is the thought that Apple owned IP (Racer and others) could easily be stuffed into a next generation video processor. It will be very interesting indeed to see what 2009 brings from Apple.


Dave

[shigzeo]

ive been a fan since the days of dreamcast. good to see that imagination and apple are combining forces to think different. indeed, powervr pioneered what you see rendering and made excellent use of their limited resources in comparison to at the time: 3dfx.

[zombitronic]

Absolutely, this move by Apple stirred their shares and made them more valuable (since they are valuable to Apple).

Slightly. Yes, it was a big jump up from yesterday to today, but pull back the chart (http://finance.google.co.uk/finance?q=LON:IMG) about a year...

[globalhemp]

Looks like Apple is lining up its ducks ... investing heavy into processors, etc ... perhaps more embedded devices to come?

From this listing, looks like Apple will get into more set-top box (Apple TV) and / or HD Radio. My opinion is ... say goodbye to satellite radio and say HELLO to HD Radio! Its free and the critical mass of people will no longer want to pay for radio.

From the web site, here is what they are into for embedded devices:

* Digital radio and audio
* Mobile multimedia & Personal Media Players (PMP)
* Car navigation/information
* Mobile Internet Devices (MID) & Ultra-mobile PCs (UMPC)
* Digital TV and Set-top Box (STB)
* Mobile TV
Apply some XML and Padora technologies, Apple will make money from "free HD Radio" by allowing users to purchase or add to "Wish List" music they are listening to. Hear an artist on HD Radio on your iPod or iPhone? A link to iTunes will apprear. Hear a radio show like Alex Jones, a link to iTunes podcast will appear for you to subscribe to. Apple may even go a step further and allow Wish Lists for iTunes. That would be nice.
Same goes for watching television. See "The Office," add it to your list. Buy past seasons from iTunes. Be reminded of tv shows that are coming by adding tv and radio schedules to your iCal app, etc!

[twoodcc]

sounds like a good thing to me. looking forward to seeing what comes out of this

[Wolfpup]

This might be the biggest thing to happen to PowerVR in a decade. I guess their hardware is pretty solid for mobile devices...maybe. Actually I don't know, as by this point even for mobile stuff it may be as old and crusty as ARM.

[winterspan]

I'm not a gamer, but I've been following geeky technical stuff on processors, GPUs, etc for a long time. I have tried to follow the developments in the mobile space with ARM, PowerVR, etc, but I hadn't really gotten into the details, so I thought I'd try to gather some info. I can't vouch for the absolute accuracy of this information, but I have done my best to use reliable sources and official manufacturer specifications if possible. If any of the experts out there see any mistakes or can provide more information, please do so.


Current Generation PowerVR MBX

For the non-geeks, the iPhone/3G/Touch use an ARM processor that has an embedded graphics core, the "PowerVR MBX Lite", from Imagination Technologies Inc. The MBX is a popular chip for high-end smartphones, and is used in many smartphones from Nokia, Sony Ericsson, etc.

The PowerVR MBX series consists of two versions of the same chip which have slightly different optimizations:
PowerVR MBX = optimized for speed (Nokia N95 and others)
PowerVR MBX Lite = optimized for power efficiency (iPhone)

Official specifications (from Imagination's website) for PowerVR MBX/MBX Lite


up to 200 Mhz
3.4M-7.4M polygons @200mhz // graphics performance is measured in an variety of ways, but polygon (triangle) count per second is one of the most important



keep in mind these official specs are no doubt under optimal circumstances at the highest clockspeed. For a more real-world estimation, here are the specifications from Texas Instruments, which uses the MBX/MBX Lite in it's OMAP2xxx line of smartphone processors:

Specifications of Texas Instrument's OMAP2420, powered by PowerVR MBX
2M polygons/sec @ (unlisted mhz)

Specifications of Texas Instrument's OMAP2430, powered by PowerVR MBX Lite
1M polygons/sec (unlisted mhz)

Also keep in mind that Samsung's (iPhone) version of the MBX lite could be running at a different clock speed as the one in T.I.'s chips... but It should be similar however.
Various other sources mentioned similar numbers, placing the iPhone's PowerVR MBX lite at capable of up to ~1M polygons/sec.


Next Generation PowerVR SGX

Now, The next generation of embedded graphics cores from Imagination is the PowerVR SGX series, which comes in many versions targeted towards not just smartphones, but MIDs/netbooks, GPS devices, automotive displays/navigation, commercial kiosks, industrial equipment, etc.

Official specifications (from Imagination's website) for PowerVR SGX series


up to 200+ Mhz
7M-40M polygons/sec @200mhz
multiple version in series: SGX520/530/531/535/540/545/555

Here are the listed performance numbers for each version. Keep in mind the higher-end parts are not going to be used in smartphones, and are meant for somewhat higher power applications like netbooks, GPS units, car displays/navigation, etc.

PowerVR SGX performance:
SGX520 = 7M poly/sec @ unknown mhz
SGX530 = 14M poly/sec @...
SGX535 = 28M poly/sec @...
SGX540 = 35M poly/sec @...
SGX545 = 40M poly/sec @...
SGX555 = estimated up to ~100M poly/sec @...



Texas Instruments, which is a good judge to go by, has chosen the SGX530 to be integrated into their next-gen OMAP3 line of smartphone processors which most likely means that this chip will be popular in the industry with other manufacturers. The SGX530 is listed as doing up to 14M polygons/sec. Even acknowledging these statistics are from the manufacturer and most likely represent the best case scenario, the performance increase from the iPhone's MBX lite should be incredible! Hopefully, Apple is no doubt planning on using the SGX in the next iPhone/Touch.

[winterspan]

This might be the biggest thing to happen to PowerVR in a decade. I guess their hardware is pretty solid for mobile devices...maybe. Actually I don't know, as by this point even for mobile stuff it may be as old and crusty as ARM.

Actually, PowerVR leads the field for embedded graphics, and is almost completely dominate in smartphones, PDAs, and other embedded devices. ARM is even more dominate in embedded devices, and their next-generation "Cortex" line of processors will blow away the iPhone's ARM11.

[jackfrost123]

at jgowan:incredible post. Graced the forum with it.


Those are some fantastic news. , we were always very proud of owning our own brand of CPUs at apple, here's to having the better CPUs in our iPods iPhones mac tablets and airs of the future!!!!!

[powers74]

Looks like Apple is lining up its ducks ... investing heavy into processors, etc ... perhaps more embedded devices to come?

From this listing, looks like Apple will get into more set-top box (Apple TV) and / or HD Radio. My opinion is ... say goodbye to satellite radio and say HELLO to HD Radio! Its free and the critical mass of people will no longer want to pay for radio.

From the web site, here is what they are into for embedded devices:

* Digital radio and audio
* Mobile multimedia & Personal Media Players (PMP)
* Car navigation/information
* Mobile Internet Devices (MID) & Ultra-mobile PCs (UMPC)
* Digital TV and Set-top Box (STB)
* Mobile TV
Apply some XML and Padora technologies, Apple will make money from "free HD Radio" by allowing users to purchase or add to "Wish List" music they are listening to. Hear an artist on HD Radio on your iPod or iPhone? A link to iTunes will apprear. Hear a radio show like Alex Jones, a link to iTunes podcast will appear for you to subscribe to. Apple may even go a step further and allow Wish Lists for iTunes. That would be nice.
Same goes for watching television. See "The Office," add it to your list. Buy past seasons from iTunes. Be reminded of tv shows that are coming by adding tv and radio schedules to your iCal app, etc!

Yeah, I tried to pitch a concept like that to KICKER a couple years ago but they just nodded and smiled. Oh well.

Plus, I think Apple's long term road map is to design their own hardware, chips and all. Having Intel chips for them right now is just the price of being competitive. Let's see a hackintosh then...

[Wolfpup]

Maybe for mobile stuff, but there's no way they can be competitive with AMD let alone Intel. It would just cost way too much money, and give them not much benefit (and cost them a TON of marketshare on top of that). I can't see why they'd do it.

For this mobile stuff, I guess it makes sense as it's so custom anymore. I'd still rather have a device running Atom though and a real OS + at least desktop class integrated graphics.

[jackfrost123]

as mentioned many times by other members much more knowledgeable than myself the next iteration of arm (cortex) will be a giagantic leap ahead blowing the previous one and poor atom right out of the water.:D:cool:

[Sehnsucht]

Good to see Apple investing in a UK company :)

Well it seems like almost EVERYBODY in the UK uses Macs, so I guess that's only fair. ;) :D

[Kwill]

Can't wait for the new iPowerPhone!

[diamond.g]

..snip..

I am actually not sure why Apple didn't go with the SGX to begin with. Yes it was new when the iPhone first came out. But as of right now Series 6 (successor to SGX) should be out next year.