P.A. Semi
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Semiconductor |
| Founded | 2003 |
| Founder | Daniel W. Dobberpuhl |
| Defunct | 2008 |
| Fate | Acquired by Apple Inc. |
| Headquarters | Santa Clara , United States |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Daniel W. Dobberpuhl (Founder) |
| Products | PWRficient PA6T-1682M CPU |
Number of employees | 150 |
| Parent | Apple Inc. |
P. A. Semi—initially known as Palo Alto Semiconductor—was a fabless semiconductor firm established in 2003 in Santa Clara, California by Daniel W. Dobberpuhl, a distinguished entrepreneur and founder who had previously led the design efforts for the DEC Alpha 21064 and StrongARM microprocessors. The company assembled an engineering workforce of approximately 150 professionals, many of whom brought experience from projects such as Itanium, Opteron, and UltraSPARC. In April 2008, Apple Inc. acquired P.A. Semi for $278 million.
Among P.A. Semi's developments was the PWRficient PA6T-1682M CPU, notably implemented in the AmigaOne X1000.
History
P. A. Semi concentrated on creating high-performance, energy-conscious Power ISA processors marketed under the PWRficient name, built around the PA6T core. This core represented the first Power ISA design outside the AIM alliance to emerge in ten years. Among its investors was Texas Instruments, which was anticipated to handle manufacturing for the PWRficient line.
The PA6T processor is compatible with PowerPC v2.04 and incorporates an advanced architecture characterized by deep pipelining, out-of-order execution, and superscalar capabilities. PWRficient chips were delivered to select clientele and were planned for worldwide availability by the fourth quarter of 2007.
Although early reports suggested a strategic collaboration with Apple as a key adopter of PWRficient processors, this partnership dissolved when Apple shifted its Mac computers from PowerPC to Intel Core architectures. Following this shift, P.A. Semi redirected its focus toward embedded systems and networking hardware markets, adjusting its business objectives accordingly.
Acquisition by Apple
On April 23, 2008, Apple completed the acquisition of P. A. Semi for $278 million, incorporating its team of 150 engineers. Despite P. A. Semi’s specialization in Power ISA processors—which Apple did not utilize—the acquisition was intended to leverage the company's engineering expertise to develop custom silicon solutions for Apple's product lines including the iPod, iPhone, and upcoming devices such as the iPad.
At the 2008 Worldwide Developer's Conference, Apple CEO Steve Jobs highlighted that this acquisition was a strategic initiative designed to strengthen Apple's hardware innovation through internal chip design capabilities. Additionally, P. A. Semi agreed to continue offering its PWRficient PA6T-1682M processor on an end-of-life basis, subject to transferring the Power ISA license originally obtained from IBM.