Linked List: April 3, 2017

Monday, 3 April 2017

Imagination Technologies’ Shares Plunge 70 Percent After Apple Ditches Firm 

Paul Sandle, reporting for Reuters:

Imagination Technologies has been told by Apple, its biggest customer, that the maker of iPhones, iPads and Apple Watches is to stop using its graphics technology in its new products, sending shares in the company crashing by more than 70 percent on Monday.

Imagination said Apple, which accounts for about half its revenue, had notified the British firm it was developing its own graphics chips and would no longer use Imagination’s processing designs in 15 months to two years time.

Imagination’s own announcement is a real bridge burner:

Apple has used Imagination’s technology and intellectual property for many years. It has formed the basis of Graphics Processor Units (“GPUs”) in Apple’s phones, tablets, iPods, TVs and watches. Apple has asserted that it has been working on a separate, independent graphics design in order to control its products and will be reducing its future reliance on Imagination’s technology.

Apple has not presented any evidence to substantiate its assertion that it will no longer require Imagination’s technology, without violating Imagination’s patents, intellectual property and confidential information. This evidence has been requested by Imagination but Apple has declined to provide it.

Further, Imagination believes that it would be extremely challenging to design a brand new GPU architecture from basics without infringing its intellectual property rights, accordingly Imagination does not accept Apple’s assertions.

In other words, we’ll see you in court. Seems petulant to do this in public.

Twitter Poll on the Touch Bar 

Steven Troughton-Smith asked a simple question in a Twitter poll last night:

Just out of interest, with @marcoarment in mind, does anybody actually like the Touch Bar of the new MacBook Pro?

With over 1,000 responses, the results were effectively 50-50. What I’m curious about is how many responders have used a MacBook with the Touch Bar for at least a week or two.

The Marco Arment angle is based on the fact that he returned his MacBook with Touch Bar and replaced it with the new MacBook Pro with the traditional function keys. I’ve heard from a few other friends that they don’t like it either.