HKSTP to provide partner companies with PowerPC core IP

HONG KONG: Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corp. (HKSTP) recently signed an agreement with IBM to make IBM’s PowerPC system-on-chip (SoC) intellectual property (IP) available through HKSTP’s new Secure Virtual IP Chamber.

The IP agreement will enable HKSTP’s partner companies and clients all over the world to use IBM’s advanced technology to design prototype products with PowerPC cores in a secure environment that can significantly reduce risk and improve time-to-market at competitive cost.

“We are very delighted to expand our relationship with IBM, which first started in 2007, to create value for our partner companies and clients,” says Allen Yeung, Vice President of Business Development and Technology Support of HKSTP. “The milestone agreement reflects the endorsement and confidence of IBM in the strengths of HKSTP’s Secure Virtual IP Chamber enabling IP protection and technology collaboration.”

SoC technology enables smaller, thinner and longer battery life for consumer electronics such as mobile phones and digital cameras. SoC refers to the placing of multiple-function systems on a single silicon chip and has been key to advancements in the semiconductor industry. But integrating SoC involves time consuming development of in-house IP as well as acquiring IP license from external developers.

The process of integration thus requires substantial IP collaborations. Such collaboration in the past was not that forthcoming due to trust issues between IP suppliers and IC design companies.

With the launch of the Secure Virtual IP Chamber by HKSTP today, the previous issues become irrelevant with HKSTP servicing both companies as the neutral third party in a trusted environment certified by ISO27001:2005 Information Security Management System.

The Chamber provides HKSTP’s partner companies and global clients with secure online access to a wide array of powerful resources including software, IP, information and materials in circuit and systems design and product manufacturing.

It also provides IP by leading international suppliers, including ARM, Cadence and Synopsys, in addition to IBM, at as little as a quarter of the original costs in some areas. Electronics companies and industries using IT solutions will be the first to benefit from the agreement.

E. Anthony Tan, Chief Executive of HKSTP, says, “The PowerPC core agreement and the establishment of the Secure Virtual IP Chamber show HKSTP’s commitment not only to IP protection for technology development, but also our dedication to driving Hong Kong forward as a regional hub for technology and innovation.”

“HKSTP will continue to form strong alliances with key technology vendors like IBM and provide services such as the Secure Virtual IP Chamber to help companies innovate and create value,” he added.

“IBM is expanding its Power Architecture, the most scalable architecture in the world, in collaboration with a number of companies that can add unique value to that architecture," said Bernard Meyerson, IBM, Vice President of Strategic Alliances.

“Working with HKSTP as a trusted IP partner, we are providing our customers with greater value by giving them the option to evaluate, design, and use IP in a well-protected environment while enabling them to achieve cost and time-to-market goals.”

Power Architecture is one of the world’s key embedded CPU architectures and a dominant player in routers, networking equipment, 3G base stations, storage, automotive, multimedia gaming and Digital/Interactive TV.

In a further expansion of IBM’s efforts to provide this technology to universities, the company is now providing HKSTP-designated users with commercial cores (IBM 405 and 460 cores) with SoC. The Secure Virtual IP Chamber service facilitates access to services that help keep the cost for designing prototypes low.

The new agreement builds on the partnership HKSTP and IBM put in place in 2007 to promote semiconductor foundry services in the Asia Pacific region by leveraging IBM’s leading semiconductor technology.

Apple shocks industry with PA Semi buy!

According to The Unofficial Apple Web Blog (TUAW), Apple has stunned the industry by acquiring P.A. Semi, a Santa Clara based chip company founded by Dan Dobberpuhl, the former lead designer of the DEC Alpha and StrongARM processors, for US $278 million.

The Computerworld Blog reported that Apple had 'shocked' everyone with this move. P.A. Semi is a fabless chip designer that specializes in super low power PowerPC processors.

This move surely raises questions about Apple's future association with Intel, which has been courting Apple since long to adopt its Atom low-power processor family. It also remains to be seen whether Apple will use these super low power PowerPC processors in embedded devices, such as high end iPhones, iPods, etc.

Interestingly, the PA Semi Web site is displaying a message: This account has surpassed its bandwidth allocation at the present time. You may reach the account administrator. Maybe, too many folks are trying to access the site to find out more about this company.

The Apple buyout of PA Semi was possibly first reported by Forbes. Since then a whole lot of articles have appeared on the Web.

According to the site, Apple spokesman Steve Dowling reportedly said, "Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not comment on our purposes and plans." He is also said to have declined to comment on the value of the deal, which a person familiar with the deal suggested was done for $278 million in cash.

Apple later announced its quarterly earnings Wednesday. As per Apple's financial results for fiscal 2008 second quarter ended March 29, 2008, the company posted $7.51 billion revenue and net quarterly profit of $1.05 billion, or $1.16 per diluted share.

These results compare to revenue of $5.26 billion and net quarterly profit of $770 million, or $.87 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 32.9 percent, down from 35.1 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 44 percent of the quarter's revenue.

Apple shipped 2,289,000 Macintosh computers during the quarter, representing 51 percent unit growth and 54 percent revenue growth over the year-ago quarter. It sold 10,644,000 iPods during the quarter, representing 1 percent unit growth and 8 percent revenue growth over the year-ago quarter. Quarterly iPhone sales were 1,703,000.

As per another Forbes reports, Apple has promised to sell 10 million iPhones in 2008 on a call with analysts Wednesday. Watch this space, as Apple is surely going to be in news for most of this year.