Acquisitions are an almost weekly occurrence in Silicon Valley, but Apple’s next scoop could be closer to home.
Apple is said to be in “advanced talks” to buy Imagination Technologies, a UK-based chip design firm partly responsible for the iPhone’s gaming heft.
That’s according to Ars Technica, which cites “a source with knowledge of the discussions”.
What’s more, the report notes that Imagination has “refused to deny any such planned takeover”.
Imagination currently designs the PowerVR range of GPUs that features in Apple’s iPhones. Apple has incorporated the GPU into its A-series chips since the A4, which was the processor powering the iPhone 4.
However, Imagination does work on a range of other technologies, including radio, networking, DSP, VoIP, and cloud design systems.
This isn’t the first time Apple has been rumoured to be considering an acquisition of Imagination. Similar suggestions surfaced in January this year.
Apple currently owns Imagination shares and has done since 2008, now holding at least a 9.5% stake in the firm.
Imagination Technologies (LON:IMG) is a public company that currently trades on the London Stock Exchange, boasting a market cap of around £600 million.
It’s been widely rumoured that Apple is looking to bring more of its supply chain in-house, so an acquisition of Imagination would support that theory.
