Apple Inside?
WSJ: Apple is building a significant capability to design its own computer chips; http://tr.im/k52c
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Gerrit Eicker
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Gerrit Eicker 10:26 on 30. April 2009 Permalink |
WSJ: “In one sign of the new focus, Apple recently hired Raja Koduri, who was formerly the chief technology officer of the graphics products group at chip maker Advanced Micro Devices Inc. Mr. Koduri started at Apple this week, following in the footsteps of Bob Drebin, who had held the same title at AMD and is also now working for Apple. … Apple’s strategy also marks a break from a long-term trend among most big electronics companies to outsource the development of chips and other components to external suppliers.”
VB: “So if there are big chip makers that could do this for Apple, why is it taking on the task itself? The reason is that Steve Jobs probably wants to make a clean break from those who are trying to clone the iPhone and the iPod. If he can design chips that no one else can use, it will be much harder to knock off his signature devices. – Apple is believed to have a license from ARM Ltd. to make low-power microprocessors based on the ARM architecture. In using ARM as the foundation, Apple’s engineers don’t have to reinvent a lot of chip design, testing and software creation tools. … If Apple pulls this off, it could declare independence from Intel, Samsung, and other chip makers in a way that no system vendor has been able to do in many years.”
CG: “In the cellphone world, a chip is a chip. Most of them are ARM-based but there are a few outliers. Most importantly, however, each has a similar power profile. Therefore, by controlling the entire chip themselves, Apple can handle its own graphics, video, and audio output as well optimize for power control – a huge concern with devices like the iPhone.”