Apple continues to invest in chip makers. The company bought a 3.6% stake in the “Imagination Technologies Group” for $5 million. IMG is particularly known for its PowerVR series chips, which are used to increase graphics performance in mobile devices. In the future, we’ll see more chips of this type in iPods and iPhones or other Apple products.
IMG had ties to Apple before. The company announced last September that it had entered into a long-term agreement with an “international electronics systems company”. Everyone thought that this collaborator was Apple. iPhone and iPod touch devices also use PowerVR chips. IMG’s new PowerVR SGX series is a faster chip. In addition, this platform supports the OpenGL ES 2.0 standard, as well as allowing for advanced 3D effects.
Apple acquired a chip design company called PA Semi a few months ago. This company was also known for the processors it produced for the Power PC architecture. Apple CEO Steve Jobs cites contribution to the development of iPod and iPhone devices as the main purpose of capturing a stake in IMG.