View source for P.A. Semi

{{Short description|Former American semiconductor company}}
{{update|date=December 2013}}
{{Infobox company
| name = P.A. Semi Inc.
| logo = pasemilogo.png
| logo_size = 260px
| founded = 2003
| founder = [[Daniel W. Dobberpuhl]]
| hq_location_city = [[Santa Clara, California]]
| hq_location_country = [[United States]]
| industry = [[Fabless semiconductor company]]
| products = [[PWRficient]] processor
| num_employees = 150 person engineering team
| defunct = 2008
| fate = Acquired by Apple
| website = {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927205658/http://www.pasemi.com/ |date=September 27, 2007 |title=pasemi.com}}
}}
'''P. A. Semi''' (originally '''Palo Alto Semiconductor'''<ref>{{Cite web|last=Kanellos|first=Michael|date=2005-10-24|title=Start-up plans new energy-efficient processor|url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/start-up-plans-new-energy-efficient-processor/|access-date=2020-06-25|website=ZDNet|language=en}}</ref>) was an American [[fabless semiconductor company]] founded in [[Santa Clara, California]] in 2003 by [[Daniel W. Dobberpuhl]],<ref>{{cite web|last=Maiellaro|first=Bridget|date=2008-08-24|title=Apple purchases alum's microchip company|url=https://ece.illinois.edu/newsroom/news/2531|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160118113601/http://engineering.illinois.edu/news/?xId=074108000700|archive-date=2016-01-18|access-date=2008-06-13|website=ECE Illinois|publisher=[[University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=MacCrae|first=Afred U.|date=April 2003|title=EDS Members Named Winners of the 2003 IEEE Technical Field Awards|url=http://www.ieee.org/organizations/pubs/newsletters/eds/apr03/field_award.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030726012756/http://www.ieee.org/organizations/pubs/newsletters/eds/apr03/field_award.html|archive-date=2003-07-26|website=[[IEEE]]}}</ref> who was previously the lead designer for the [[Digital Equipment Corporation|DEC]] [[Alpha 21064]] and [[StrongARM]] processors. The company employed a 150-person engineering team which included people who had previously worked on processors like [[Itanium]], [[Opteron]] and [[SPARC|UltraSPARC]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Krazit |first=Tom |date=2005-10-24 |title=New company to use IBM's Power for low-power chips |url=https://www.computerworld.com/article/2559131/new-company-to-use-ibm-s-power-for-low-power-chips.html |access-date=2022-07-26 |website=Computerworld |language=en}}</ref> [[Apple Inc]] acquired P.A. Semi for $278 million in April 2008.<ref name=":1">{{cite news|title=Apple Buys Chip Designer |work=[[Forbes]] |url=https://www.forbes.com/2008/04/23/apple-buys-pasemi-tech-ebiz-cz_eb_0422apple.html |access-date=2008-04-23 }}</ref>

P.A. Semi developed the [[PWRficient|PWRficient PA6T-1682M CPU]], which was used in the [[AmigaOne X1000]].

==History==
P. A. Semi concentrated on making powerful and power-efficient [[Power ISA]] processors called [[PWRficient]], based on the '''PA6T''' processor core.<ref>{{Cite web |title=P.A. Semi Successfully Develops the Most Power-Efficient High-Performance Processor Ever Designed |url=http://vita.mil-embedded.com/news/p-processor-ever-designed/ |access-date=2022-07-26 |website=VITA Technologies |language=en}}</ref> The PA6T was the first Power ISA core to be designed from scratch outside the [[AIM alliance]] (i.e. not by [[Apple Inc.|Apple]], [[IBM]], or [[Motorola]]/[[Freescale]]) in ten years. [[Texas Instruments]] was one of the investors in P.A. Semi and it was suggested that their fabrication plants would be used to manufacture the PWRficient processors.<ref>{{cite web
|title = PA Semi heads to 16 cores on back of $50m boost
|publisher = [[The Register]]
|url = https://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/05/17/pasemi_core_ti/
|access-date = 2006-10-17
|first = Ashlee
|last = Vance
|author-link=Ashlee Vance 
}}</ref>

The PA6T is [[PowerPC]] v2.04 compatible.
The PA6T is a deeply pipelined, out of order, superscalar core.<ref>
David Kanter.
[https://www.realworldtech.com/pa-semi/3/ "P.A. Semi's PA6T-1682M System-on-a-Chip"].
October 24, 2005.
</ref>

PWRficient processors were shipping to select customers, and were set to be released for worldwide sale in Q4 2007.<ref>{{cite web
 |title       = Press release
 |publisher   = P. A. Semi
 |url         = http://pasemi.com/news/pr_2007_02_05b.html
 |access-date  = 2007-02-07
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20070821022643/http://pasemi.com/news/pr_2007_02_05b.html
 |archive-date = 2007-08-21
}}</ref>

There were rumors that P. A. Semi had a relationship with [[Apple Inc.|Apple]] that suggested Apple would be the premier user of the PWRficient processors. That relationship supposedly ended with the [[Mac transition to Intel processors]] when Apple switched from the PowerPC to [[Intel]]'s [[Intel Core|Core]] processors for their entire line of computers.<ref>{{cite web|last=Vance|first=Ashlee|date=2006-05-19|title=Apple shunned superstar chip start-up for Intel|url=http://www.theregister.com/2006/05/19/pasemi_apple/|access-date=2006-05-19|website=[[The Register]]}}</ref> Therefore, when P. A. Semi first publicly disclosed PWRficient, the company instead targeted embedded systems, such as networking equipment.<ref>{{cite web|last=Byrne|first=Joseph|date=2005-10-25|title=P.A. Semi: Star Design Team Unveils Energy-Efficient Multicore Processor|url=https://xpu.pub/2005/10/25/pa-semi/|access-date=2024-04-02|website=XPU.pub}}</ref>

== Acquisition by Apple ==
On 23 April 2008, Apple announced that they had acquired P. A. Semi for $278 million.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Apple buys chip designer PA Semi for $278 million |url=https://appleinsider.com/articles/08/04/23/apple_buys_chip_designer_pa_semi_for_278_million |access-date=2022-07-26 |website=AppleInsider |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Moorhead |first=Patrick |date=2017-06-14 |title=Apple's Plan To Dominate Silicon |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/patrickmoorhead/2017/06/14/apples-plan-to-dominate-silicon/ |access-date=2022-11-02 |website=Forbes |language=en}}</ref> The acquisition came with P.A. Semi's 150-person engineering team.<ref name=":0" /> While Apple's previous relationship with P. A. Semi would indicate that Apple could use their processors, P. A. Semi manufactures only Power ISA processors, which Apple did not use at the time.

On 11 June 2008, during the annual Worldwide Developer's Conference, Apple CEO [[Steve Jobs]] said that the acquisition was meant to add the talent of P. A. Semi's engineers to Apple's workforce and help them build custom chips for the [[iPod]], [[iPhone]], and other future mobile devices<ref>{{cite news
|title = Jobs Still Hearts Intel
|url = https://blogs.wsj.com/biztech/2008/04/24/jobs-still-hearts-intel/?mod=WSJBlog
|access-date = 2008-04-24
|first = Nick
|last = Wingfield
|publisher = [[The Wall Street Journal]]
}}</ref> such as the [[iPad]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Vance|first1=Ashlee|last2=Stone|first2=Brad|date=2010-02-02|title=A Little Chip Designed by Apple Itself|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/02/technology/business-computing/02chip.html|access-date=2010-02-02|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> P.A. Semi has said that they were willing to supply their PWRficient PA6T-1682M chip on an end-of-life basis, if the Power ISA license that P.A. Semi holds from [[IBM]] could be transferred to the acquiring company.<ref>{{cite web
|title = DoD may push back on Apple's P. A. Semi bid
|url = http://www.eetimes.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml;?articleID=207401605
|first = Rick
|last = Merritt
|access-date = 2008-04-23
|publisher = [[EE Times]]
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110731174610/http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-news/4076837/DoD-may-push-back-on-Apple-s-P-A-Semi-bid
|archive-date=2011-07-31
}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
*{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927205658/http://www.pasemi.com/ |date=September 27, 2007 |title=Official website}}

{{Apple}}

[[Category:2003 establishments in California]]
[[Category:2008 disestablishments in California]]
[[Category:2008 mergers and acquisitions]]
[[Category:American companies established in 2003]]
[[Category:American companies disestablished in 2008]]
[[Category:Apple Inc. acquisitions]]
[[Category:Companies based in Palo Alto, California]]
[[Category:Computer companies established in 2003]]
[[Category:Computer companies disestablished in 2008]]
[[Category:Defunct computer companies of the United States]]
[[Category:Defunct computer hardware companies]]
[[Category:Defunct semiconductor companies of the United States]]
[[Category:Electronics companies established in 2003]]
[[Category:Electronics companies disestablished in 2008]]
[[Category:Fabless semiconductor companies]]
[[Category:Manufacturing companies based in California]]
[[Category:Technology companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area]]