P.A. Semi

P.A. Semi was a fabless semiconductor company that developed high-performance, low-power microprocessors. The company was founded in 2003 by industry veterans from Apple, Sun, SGI, and DEC. P.A. Semi was acquired by Apple Inc. in 2008.

History

P.A. Semi was founded in 2003 by Dan Dobberpuhl, who was previously the lead designer for the DEC Alpha series of microprocessors. The company was initially funded by venture capitalists and focused on designing high-performance, low-power microprocessors.

In 2005, P.A. Semi announced its first product, the PWRficient processor. This processor was based on the Power Architecture and was designed to be used in a variety of applications, including networking, storage, and wireless communications.

In 2008, P.A. Semi was acquired by Apple Inc. for $278 million. After the acquisition, the P.A. Semi team was integrated into Apple's hardware engineering group, where they played a key role in the development of Apple's custom ARM-based processors.

Products

P.A. Semi's main product was the PWRficient processor. This processor was based on the Power Architecture and was designed to deliver high performance while consuming less power than comparable processors. The PWRficient processor was used in a variety of applications, including networking, storage, and wireless communications.

Legacy

The acquisition of P.A. Semi by Apple Inc. marked a significant shift in Apple's strategy. Prior to the acquisition, Apple relied on third-party processors for its products. However, with the acquisition of P.A. Semi, Apple gained the capability to design its own processors, leading to the development of the Apple A4 and subsequent processors.