Fresh off the delivery of its new iPad tablet, Apple continues making moves that aim to broaden its own chip design prowess, this week confirming that it’s snapped up Intrinsity, a small player in the space.
The company signaled its interest in owning more of the semiconductor design process with its 2008 purchase of PA Semi. Now, it’s going after another small firm — one that reports suggest may have had some role in designing the iPad’s chip. Datamation takes a look at what the acquisition might mean for Apple’s product plans going forward.
Apple has confirmed it purchased Intrinsity, a small semiconductor design shop in Austin, Texas, that specializes in making low-power, embedded processors. The rumor had been floating around since the beginning of this month but was only confirmed today to the New York Times.
Formed in 1997, Intrinsity has around 100 employees, according to its Wikipedia entry, and its main product is its Fast14 technology, a set of design tools for improving the signaling encoding in a chip, allowing a processor to run faster than its native design. The company’s homepage wasn’t reachable Tuesday.
