Imagination puts two-thirds of itself up for sale as Apple IP fight rumbles on

Chip designer Imagination Technologies has opened a formal dispute resolution procedure with Apple after the iPhone giant decided to stop using its intellectual property.

Reuters reported this morning that Imagination said it had started the procedure, which is enshrined in the contract between the two companies.

Last month Apple said it would stop using Imagination’s PowerVR GPU IP in 2019, which caused an immediate crash in Imagination’s share price. About half of Imagination’s annual revenues depend on income from Apple.

Apple said at the time that it would be developing its own in-house graphics chips, something which Imagination says would not be possible without infringing on its patents.

Imagination’s share price crashed by around 70 per cent, according to the newswire, and it has shown no real sign of recovering since. It is currently trading at around 99p/share.

Fire sale

As a result of the dispute, Imagination is putting two of its three business units up for sale. Its MIPS processor design unit and Ensigma connectivity division are now up for grabs, the company having decided to “actively market these businesses for sale” according to a statement obtained by the Telegraph. Its third business unit is the PowerVR division at the heart of the Apple dispute. The PowerVR IP is used in a number of other smart gadgets as well as iThings.

An Imagination spokesman told us the company is "not speculating or saying what will happen next". ®