Imagination Technologies
| Imagination Technologies Ltd.
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|---|---|
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| legal form | Limited Company |
| founding | 1985 (as VideoLogic Ltd.) |
| Seat | Kings Langley , Hertfordshire , United Kingdom |
| management | Andrew Heath - CEO ad interim |
| Number of employees | approx. 380 ( 2007 ) |
| Branch | Semiconductor technology / intellectual property trading |
| Website | www.imgtec.com |
Imagination Technologies ("ImgTec" for short) is an English company that has specialized in the development and licensing of intellectual property (IP). The company's shares are traded on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol IMG .
In 2017, Imagination Technologies was taken over by the Chinese investor Canyon Bridge Capital Partners .
history
Imagination Technologies was founded in 1985 as VideoLogic Limited . At that time, the focus was on the development and sale of multimedia products for PCs , so that the product range mainly comprised graphics cards and special video accelerators.
In July 1994 the company went public. On November 18, 1996, the company, together with NEC , launched the NEC PowerVR PCX1, the first 3D graphics chip in the PowerVR series . VideoLogic had developed the corresponding technology, NEC manufactured and sold the finished graphics chips and VideoLogic in turn sold corresponding graphics cards from the Apocalypse series.
On August 31, 1999, VideoLogic announced the renaming to Imagination Technologies and a restructuring of the company: Graphics development was spun off as a subsidiary with the name PowerVR Technologies , while a subsidiary was established under the previous name VideoLogic Systems that sells products with Technologies from Imagination Technologies was responsible. Imagination Technologies acted from now on as a holding company and ensured the corresponding cooperation between the subsidiaries.
On March 23rd, Ensigma , which specializes in the development of DSPs , was taken over and incorporated into the company as a third subsidiary ( Ensigma Technologies ). As Ensigma specialized in the development of communication technologies, the subsidiary Metagence Technologies was founded on May 3, 2001 for the further development of general DSPs .
After the focus of graphics products had shifted more towards general audio products over the years, it was decided on July 15, 2002 to rename VideoLogic Systems to PURE Digital . VideoLogic is now just a brand name for some PURE Digital products. Since the beginning of 2008 the company has only operated under the name Pure .
In November 2012, Imagination Technologies announced the acquisition of MIPS Technologies for $ 60 million. In addition, Imagination Technologies took over 82 patents from MIPS Technologies that are directly related to the MIPS architecture . The remaining 498 patents went to Bridge Crossing LLC for 350 million US dollars, including ARM Limited , a direct competitor to PowerVR. Imagination Technologies also acquired the rights to use these 498 patents. Imagination Technologies hoped to position itself better in the CPU-IP market. After the takeover by the Chinese investor Canyon Bridge Capital Partners in 2017, the MIPS division, including the patents, was sold again.
subsidiary company
Imagination Technologies comprises the following subsidiaries:
- Ensigma Technologies : Development of multithreaded DSPs and GPPs
- IMGWorks : Development and adaptation of SoC solutions
- Metagence Technologies : Development of communication solutions
- PowerVR Technologies : Development of graphics solutions
- Pure : Marketing of products with ImgTec technologies
Business areas
Imagination Technologies and its subsidiaries are currently focusing on the development and licensing of technologies in the following business areas:
- Cell phones and PDAs
- Digital video: television , DVD and set-top boxes
- Digital radio
- Automotive navigation systems
Licensee
Many well-known companies in the semiconductor industry are among the licensees of ImgTec. These include Centrality , Digital One , Freescale , Frontier Silicon , Future Waves , Intel , Microchip, Mavrix , NEC , NXP , Renesas , Samsung , Sega , Sharp , Sunplus and Texas Instruments .
Since the technologies developed are sold and used under the names of the respective licensees, ImgTec is one of the less well-known companies.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Benjamin Kraft: Imagination Technologies sold to Chinese investor group. In: Heise online . September 24, 2017 . Retrieved June 17, 2018.
- ↑ ImgTec press release . August 31, 1999.
- ↑ ImgTec press release . March 23, 2000.
- ↑ ImgTec press release . May 3, 2001.
- ↑ Press release from PURE Digital ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . July 15, 2002.
- ↑ ImgTec press release on the acquisition of MIPS Technologies November 6, 2012.
- ↑ Bernd Mewes: AI specialist Wave Computing buys MIPS. In: Heise online . June 16, 2018 . Retrieved June 17, 2018.
