The Mobile Internet Report Key Themes*

P.A. Semi Acquisition –
Harbinger of Things To Come for Apple
Facts
Apple acquired P.A. Semi, a low-power fabless chipmaker, for $278MM in April 2008
P.A. Semi has top-notch chip engineering talent (150+ people), led by founder Dan
Dobberpuhl, who worked on several well known processor platforms including DEC
Alpha, Itanium, Opteron and UltraSPARC
P.A. Semi is focused on maximizing performance per watt
Steve Jobs said that “…PA Semi is going to do system-on-chips for iPhones and iPods”
according to the New York Times
Implications
In the face of rising competition, the PA Semi deal could signal an attempt by Apple to
further differentiate the iPhone device/platform from a chip and performance per watt
perspective
Although there is already healthy innovation amongst chipmakers in energy efficient
chips, successful execution of a proprietary, high-performance per watt platform would
likely provide an important strategic differentiation for Apple
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