Chips

GPU designer Imagination puts itself up for sale just two months following Apple dispute

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 22, 2017

Fabless semiconductor maker Imagination Technologies has announced it's putting itself up for sale, either in chunks or as a larger whole, just two months after Apple said it didn't want to license its mobile GPU blueprints for iOS devices anymore.

The iPhone maker accounts for about half of Imagination's sales.

The UK-based company's share price immediately fell off a cliff as a result. Imagination lost 70 percent of its value following a dispute with Apple.

Reuters reported Thursday that Imagination's board of directors has “received interest from a number of parties”.

The company said in a statement:

Imagination Technologies announces that over the last few weeks it has received interest from a number of parties for a potential acquisition of the whole group.

The board of Imagination has therefore decided to initiate a formal sale process for the group and is engaged in preliminary discussions with potential bidders.

Analysts think potential bidders could include Intel, Qualcomm, Mediatek, CEVA and various Chinese firms. It's unclear it Apple itself could be interested.

Founded in 1985 and listed in 1994, Imagination had a market capitalization of 425 million pounds, or approximately $538 million, following today's news. By comparison, the company was valued at more than 2 billion pounds in April 2012, or more than $2.5 billion.

Two months ago, Imagination started seeking buyers for its Ensigma business and the MIPS division, which it bought for $100 million in 2013. The British GPU designer said it was offloading those businesses in order to focus on its new PowerVR Furian graphics architecture.

According to UBS, Imagination's non-Apple business was worth 81 million pounds in April 2017, or about $100 million. Apple, which owns an eight percent stake in Imagination, said in April it's been working on “a separate, independent graphics design in order to control its products.”

The Cupertino firm should stop using Imagination's GPU designs within 15 to 24 months.

Apple was rumored to acquire Imagination last year, but the talks fell apart. Apple has since poached Imagination's COO John Metcalfe along with a bunch of Imagination engineers.

Without any Apple royalty contributions, Imagination could become a loss-making company.

Toshiba selects preferred bidder for memory chip unit sale

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 21, 2017

Having put its memory-chip business on sale a few months ago, Japanese giant Toshiba said today that it has selected the consortium of Innovation Network Corporation of Japan, Bain Capital Private Equity and Development Bank of Japan as its preferred bidder.

According to DigiTimes, the aforementioned government-led consortium has presented the best proposal in terms of valuation, certainty of closing, retention of employees and maintenance of sensitive technology within Japan.

The definite agreement should be confirmed on June 28, when the consortium is scheduled to hold its shareholder meeting. The transaction, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approval, should close by March 2018.

Toshiba's memory semiconductor business was split from the parent company on April 1, 2017 as a wholly-owned subsidiary. Toshiba is among Apple's key suppliers of flash memory chips.

Google hires veteran Apple chip architect to work on Pixel phones

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 17, 2018

Veteran Apple chip architect Manu Gulati is now a Lead SoC Architect at Google, reveals his LinkedIn profile which states that he started in his new Google role in May.

According to Variety, Gulati has been tasked with leading the effort to build highly optimized chips for Google's Pixel smartphones in-house.

He had been spearheading Apple’s own chip developments for close to eight years.

By hiring an industry expert, Google is hoping to distance itself from the rest of the pack. Like other flagship Android devices, Pixel smartphones use Qualcomm's Snapdragon 821 processor.

This makes it harder for Google to differentiate Pixel devices from other Android phones.

“In addition to Gulati’s hire, Google is now looking to hire additional chip experts to tightly control future Pixel hardware,” Variety learned from sources familiar with the hire.

A custom chip would allow Google to develop a more secure smartphone with better camera features, advanced biometric authentication, optimized power consumption and so forth.

iPhone 7, for example, is six times faster at image recognition than Google’s Pixel phone because its 64-bit A10 Fusion chip has a highly-optimized Image Signal Processor.

And with iOS 11, Apple is integrating features like Metal 2, machine learning and augmented reality directly into a phone’s main chip, which would have been impossible if the company hadn't closely controlled chip design.

For those wondering, Apple's Senior Vice President of Hardware Technologies, Johny Srouji, oversees the company's semiconductor and wireless teams, reporting directly to CEO Tim Cook.

“Johny has built one of the world’s strongest and most innovative teams of silicon and technology engineers, overseeing breakthrough custom silicon and hardware technologies including batteries, application processors, storage controllers, sensors silicon, display silicon and other chipsets across Apple’s entire product line,” according to his bio page on the Apple Leadership website.

Johny joined Apple in 2008 to lead development of the A4, the first Apple-designed system on a chip powering iPhone 4 and the original iPad.

Apple's semiconductor team is comprised of engineers who worked at startups like P.A. Semi that Apple acquired after releasing the original iPhone. Apple's logic was simple: it wanted to take its chip destiny into its own hands to tightly integrate the hardware and software, optimize device performance and power consumption and enable hardware features simply not possible on devices that use off-the-shel parts that are readily available to all vendors.

Incredibly, the strategy paid off big time.

Even the last-generation A9 processor inside iPhone 6s smokes competition in single-core performance, for instance. The A10 Fusion chip in the iPhone 7 family is even faster and Apple's latest chip, the A10X Fusion inside the new iPad Pros, features 30 percent faster CPU performance and forty percent faster graphics than the previous generation.

Samsung predicted to beat Intel, become #1 chip vendor this summer

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 12, 2017

Samsung's chip-making unit has been making some great strides in the past few years and now the South Korean chaebol is predicted to overtake Intel and become the world's top producer of computer chips. Should the prediction come true, this will be a major blow to Intel, which has been the leading chip maker in terms of sales for 26 years since 1991.

According to researchers with NH Investment & Securities, cited in a report by The Korea Herald, Samsung could overtake Intel as soon as this summer due to the rise in number of data centers and expanded demand of solid state drives.

Intel captured an estimated thirteen percent of global chip sales in the first quarter of 2016 versus Samsung's 9.1 percent share. But during the March quarter of 2017, Intel took up 14.7 percent while Samsung held a comparable figure of 13.4 percent.

“Starting the March-June period, Samsung's global market share of chips will surpass the 15-percent mark to outpace its rival, helped by its improved competitiveness in the memory segment,” the report added.

Apple no longer uses Samsung's chip fabrication plants to build its in-house designed processors for iOS devices, but iPhones and iPads still use Samsung-built flash memory modules and the iPhone 7's LTE modem is being dual-sourced from Intel and Samsung.

iMac Pro tech specs

Anthony Bouchard ∙ June 5, 2017

Apple discontinued the Mac Pro to work on a completely new kind of all-in-one computer that has comparable specs. They're going ahead and calling it the iMac Pro, and behind that super sexy space gray finish is a ton of computing power that appeals to professionals who need the extra processing power.

In this piece, we'll talk about the tech specs of the iMac Pro, which was just announced by Apple at WWDC 2017.

New 2017 iPad Pro tech specs

Anthony Bouchard ∙ June 5, 2017

Among all the new gadgets and accessories Apple unveiled at WWDC 2017, a revamped iPad Pro was one of the lead attention-grabbers. In this piece, we'll go over the tech specs of both the new 10.5-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro.

Apple hires Qualcomm Vice President to lead its wireless chip project

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 17, 2018

Apple has hired Esin Terzioglu, Qualcomm's Vice President of Engineering, to act as the project lead on its wireless system-on-a-chip project, suggesting the Cupertino company could be developing its own baseband modem for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices, reports AppleInsider.

Unlike Apple's in-house designed chips, Qualcomm's Snapdragon processors and Samsung's own Exynos chips integrate the CPU, GPU and the LTE modem on the same chip package.

iPhone 7, for instance, uses dedicated LTE modems from both Intel and Qualcomm.

“After an amazing eight years at Qualcomm, it is time for me to move on to my next adventure,” Terzioglu shared the news via his LinkedIn account.

“I feel privileged for the opportunity to continue my career at Apple,” he added.

He is credit as an inventor of many Qualcomm patents.

After joining Qualcomm in August 2009, Terzioglu lead the Qualcomm CDMA Technologies Central Engineering organization. He has a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering with a Ph.D. minor in Computer Science, both completed at Stanford University.

Apple and Qualcomm are currently embroiled in a $1 billion licensing dispute related to the royalty fees the iPhone maker and other companies pay to Qualcomm for its cellular chips.

According to Axios, the chip maker has asked a US court to force iPhone suppliers to keep paying it royalty fees, while it continues its legal battle with the Cupertino giant.

Intel unveils new Core X desktop processors, including flagship Core i9 chip

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 30, 2017

At Computex today, chip giant Intel unveiled a new Core X line of high-end processors for desktop computers. The new chips are mostly based on an updated version of Intel's sixth-generation Skylake platform, called Skylake X, with the exception of a pair of entry-level four-core models that are based on the Kaby Lake X platform.

Billed as Intel's most scalable, accessible and powerful desktop platform ever, the lineup includes a new Core i9 processor brand along with a Core i9 Extreme Edition processor—the first consumer desktop chip with a whopping 18 cores and 36 threads of power.

Intel's Turbo Boost technology has been updated with Turbo Boost Max 3.0 technology as well.

According to Intel, the new Core X family sports ten percent faster multithread performance over the previous generation, and a 15 percent boost in single thread performance.

The entry-level Core X i5-7640X chip with four cores and as many threads starts at $242.

The more powerful Core i7 X-Series starts at $339 for a four-core, eight-thread model and goes all the way up to a $599 eight-core, 16-thread chip.

The flagship Core i9 X-Series chip, which stars at ten processor cores and 16 threads, is priced at $999, with its 16-core, 32-thread variant going for $1,699.

The new desktop Core X chips are designed to work with Intel’s new X299 motherboard chipset which should be rolling out on partner products in the coming weeks, along with the new CPUs.

As you know, Apple is expected to update its iMac all-in-ones with server-grade Intel Xeon processors and discreet graphics later this year.

The chip giant says its upcoming eighth-generation Coffe Lake platform will see up to a thirty percent performance improvement over the current seventh-generation Kaby Lake.

It did not provide a timeframe for Coffe Lake chips. “We will have more to say about the eightht-generaiton Core processor in the future,” said Intel.

The Coffe Lake chips may power updated MacBook Pros, coming later this year.

In time for iPhone 9, TSMC’s 7nm tech moving to volume production in 2018

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 29, 2017

Chip foundry Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), which counts Apple as its biggest client, is ready to move its cutting-edge seven-nanometer process technology to volume production in 2018.

According to DigiTimes, an improved version of TSMC's seven-nanometer process using extreme ultraviolet technology will be ready for volume production in 2018, according to company co-CEO CC Wei.

The firm's five-nanometer node is slated to enter risk production in 2019, Wei added.

TSMC currently makes A10 chips for iPhone 7 and is said to be exclusively churning out the upcoming Apple-designed A11 processors for iPhone 8 and other 2017 iOS devices.

TSMC in April reportedly began stockpiling A11 chips for 2017 iPhones.

The firm should step up its pace of inventory building from June onward, said industry sources.

iPhone 8's A11 system-on-a-chip should be built on TSMC's ten-nanometer process technology, yielding faster performance and lower power consumption.

The A11 Fusion chip inside iPhone 7 is being manufactured on TSMC's 16-nanometer node.

Apple is building a brand new chip dedicated to artificial intelligence and machine learning, Bloomberg said recently, but it's unclear if the new chip will make its way into iPhone 8.

Apple developing dedicated AI chip for future devices

Cody Lee ∙ May 26, 2017

Apple is working on a processor dedicated specifically to AI-related tasks, reports Bloomberg. Citing sources familiar with the matter, the outlet says the chip is known internally as the Apple Neural Engine, and its goal is to improve the way devices handle facial recognition, speech recondition and other AI-related tasks.

Currently, Apple devices handle complex AI processes with two different chips—the main processor and the GPU. This new chip would let Apple offload those tasks onto a dedicated module designed specifically for complex artificial intelligence processing, resulting in better battery life and performance.

The Apple AI chip is designed to make significant improvements to Apple’s hardware over time, and the company plans to eventually integrate the chip into many of its devices, including the iPhone and iPad, according to the person with knowledge of the matter. Apple has tested prototypes of future iPhones with the chip, the person said, adding that it’s unclear if the component will be ready this year.

It's no surprise Apple looking to move quickly with this AI chip. Other manufacturers, such as Google and Qualcomm, are already using dedicated AI modules, and artificial intelligence sits at the heart of two major spaces the company is rumored to be interested in: self-driving vehicles and augmented reality.

Source: Bloomberg

Thunderbolt 3 to go royalty-free by 2018

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 24, 2017

Intel announced today it will be making Thunderbolt 3 royalty-free for manufacturers in 2018 to boost adoption. Moreover, the chip giant will be natively integrating Thunderbolt 3 into its future CPUs, which should help reduce the overall solution cost on the computer.

“We think the first thing is going to drive broader adoption and deployment of Thunderbolt 3 in PCs,” Jason Ziller, Intel’s lead for Thunderbolt development, told Wired. “The second will drive also broader adoption in the ecosystem, with a lot of different peripherals and other devices.”

Intel is continually working with the industry to lower the cost of the cables and the devices. The improving USB-C economies of scale should help Thunderbolt 3 drive down costs.

There are currently about 60 Thunderbolt-compatible peripherals.

About 180 seventh-generation Core CPUs from Intel include native Thunderbolt 3 integration, with another 30 or so expected by the end of the year.

Dan Riccio, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering, said:

Apple and Intel have collaborated on Thunderbolt from the beginning, and as the industry leader in its adoption, we applaud Intel’s efforts to integrate Thunderbolt technology into its CPUs and open it up to the rest of the industry.

The Thunderbolt protocol has been struggling to gain traction.

Jointly developed by Apple and Intel six years ago, it's failed to go mainstream due to the royalty fees vendors are required to pay and a combination of high cost and low availability.

Thunderbolt 3 supports data speeds of up to 40 Gbps, allowing you to transfer a 4K movie in about thirty seconds. In addition to data, the protocol allows for power, USB, DisplayPort, HDMI and VGA to be carried over a single reversible port that's compatible with USB-C.

“There always have been and probably will continue to be some wired ports on even the thinnest and lightest computers,” says Ziller. “So having a single port that really do everything that you need is our vision for Thunderbolt 3.”

Apple's MacBook Pro uses a dedicated Thunderbolt 3 controller measuring 10.7mm × 10.7mm.

Microsoft has enhanced Thunderbolt 3 device plug-and-play support in the now available Windows 10 Creators Update, with additional enhancements planned for future OS releases.

By integrating the protocol into its CPUs and making the Thunderbolt specification available to third-party chipmakers royalty-free next year should help Thunderbolt 3 become an industry-standard it was always meant to become.

TSMC resolves manufacturing woes, kicks off production of A11 chips for upcoming iPhones and iPads

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 11, 2017

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has commenced production of Apple-designed A11 chips for upcoming iPhones and iPads.

According to a report Thursday from Taiwanese trade publication DigiTimes, the semiconductor foundry has successfully resolved initial manufacturing issues in the company's ten-nanometer FinFET process technology.

“TSMC has begun 10nm chip production for Apple's next-generation iPhone 8 series,” sources told the publication. “Production was once affected by issues involving stacking components in the backend integrated fan-out packaging process, but they have already been solved.”

TSMC is Apple's exclusive manufacturer of the in-house designed 16-nanometer A10 Fusion chip for the iPhone 7 series. TSMC's new ten-nanometer process should yield smaller chips that run faster and consume less energy.

TSMC has also secured 12-nanometer chip orders (a smaller version of its 16nm technology) from Nvidia, MediaTek, Silicon Motion Technology and HiSilicon. As for TSMC's 10nm process, the node technology has obtained orders from Apple, MediaTek and HiSilicon, as per sources.