After being dumped by Apple, Imagination puts self up for sale

Imagination Technologies has supplied Apple with graphics hardware for years now, being responsible for the GPUs used in iPhones and iPads.

However, news broke earlier this year that Apple was dumping the company to use its own in-house graphics hardware for future iPhones. The immediate effect of that news saw Imagination’s shares tank by over 60%.

But the saga doesn’t end there, as Imagination has announced that it has put itself up for sale.

In a press release on its website, the company notes that “over the last few weeks it has received interest from a number of parties for a potential acquisition of the whole group”.

“The board of Imagination has therefore decided to initiate a formal sale process for the group and is engaged in preliminary discussions with potential bidders,” the statement adds.

Apple gave Imagination Technologies plenty of business, but the recent divorce seems devastating already

The move comes after it also sold its MIPS and Ensigma divisions.

Who would want to buy Imagination Technologies then? Well, MediaTek, Samsung and Huawei’s HiSilicon could all have a reason to make a play for the company. All three companies currently use GPU designs from ARM, but bringing in their own GPU hardware could potentially make for a competitive advantage.

It wouldn’t be the first time that a major graphics hardware unit was acquired by a mobile firm either. After all, Qualcomm bought ATI/AMD’s mobile graphics operations in 2009. The GPU range is now used in Snapdragon chips under the Adreno name.