Apple Vs. Imagination Technologies: Chip Maker Up For Sale Amid ‘Dispute’ With Tim Cook’s Company

Apple’s former graphics chip supplier Imagination Technologies has put itself up for sale. The British company has also expressed that it remains to be “in dispute” with Tim Cook’s company after the latter ditched its services.

On Thursday, Imagination Technologies announced in a press release that it has initiated a formal sale process of the company after receiving interest from a number of parties. The board of the firm has admitted that it is in the early stages of discussing things with potential buyers as of late.

“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 company stated. “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.”

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Imagination has also laid out the rules on how interested parties can bid for the acquisition of its group. According to the company, interested parties will be asked to enter into a confidential agreement with the firm. Once the board of Imagination has found the party to be satisfactory, the party will be allowed to participate in the formal sale process and receive more information about the sale of the company.

While Imagination Technologies’ press release focused on the sale of its whole group, the company did not forget to indicate that its friction with Apple remains. It can be noted that the discord between the former partners began when Apple informed Imagination last April that it is ditching the latter’s PowerVR graphics technology in the next two years.

The PowerVR graphics chips were previously used by Apple for its iPhone and iPad products. However, it has decided to build and use its own in-house chips for its smartphone and tablet devices for the next “15 months to two years.” This obviously shocked Imagination Technologies, which is actually earning half of its annual revenues from Apple, as per MacRumors.

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After Apple announced its decision to not use Imagination’s PowerVR graphics chips, the British chip designer’s shares immediately dropped by 70 percent. This led Imagination to launch a dispute resolution procedure with the Cupertino giant last month. The company has also expressed that it is doubting that Apple could come up with its own chips without breaking patents.

“Apple has not presented any evidence to substantiate its assertion that it will no longer require Imagination’s technology, without violating Imagination’s patents, intellectual property and confidential information,” the chip maker said in a statement in April. “This evidence has been requested by Imagination but Apple has declined to prove it.”

Apple reportedly did attempt to acquire Imagination late last year. The former was said to be in “advanced talks” to acquire the chip maker after the latter announced job cuts. It wasn’t clear what happened to the discussions, but Apple ended up not making a buyout offer. Instead, it recruited several employees of Imagination to join its own in-house graphics team.