Episode 30: P.A. Semi + AuthenTec

Acquired

Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal

Ma, Business, Technology, Acquisitions, Startups, Venturecapital, Vc, Investing, Investment

4.7 • 5.2K Ratings

🗓️ 24 January 2017

⏱️ 74 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Topics covered include:

P.A. Semi’s original moniker ("Palo Alto Semiconductor”) and its celebrity founder (in the semiconductor world) Dan Dobberpuhl
History of the back and forth tradeoffs between Intel’s powerful x86 chips and low power alternatives like ARM processors
Dobberpuhl’s technology breakthroughs throughout his career that enabled true low-power + high-performance chips
The initial target markets for P.A. Semi’s chips (surprise: NOT mobile phones)
P.A. Semi’s first foray into a potential deal with Apple, dashed by Cupertino’s surprise switch to Intel processors in 2005
The rise of mobile finally creating the huge market need for low-power / high-performance, Apple’s acquisition of P.A., and launch of the first Apple-designed chip, the “A4”, with the original iPad in 2010
Geekbench: the single-core performance of Apple’s latest generation of smartphone processors (A10 Fusion) has basically caught up with Intel’s laptop CPUs
AuthenTec’s beginnings in the late 90’s as a spinoff from the defense contractor Harris Corporation (named by Wired Magazine as the #2 threat to internet privacy in the US), based in Melbourne, Florida
Early versions of the technology that became TouchID, the sensors for which were many times larger than today’s iPhones themselves!
AuthenTec “not very Apple-like” website on Archive.org (and screenshot)
AuthenTec’s deal that almost was to put their technology and sensors into Samsung’s flagship phones
Apple’s acquisition of AuthenTec for $356 million in July 2012, and the rapid introduction of TouchID in the iPhone 5S one year later in September 2013

Sponsors:

Anthropic: https://bit.ly/acquiredclaude25
Sentry: https://bit.ly/acquiredsentry
WorkOS: https://acquired.fm/unplugged
- Playing Cards: https://bit.ly/workOSshop (Code: ACQDECK)
Statsig: https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig26

Followups:

Merging of Alaska & Virgin America loyalty programs (woo!)
Walmart announces major reorg following the Jet acquisition
Snap Inc. IPO drama is mounting! (we can’t wait to cover this one)

The Carve Out:

Ben: Rands in Repose: The Situation
David: Daily Rituals: How Artists Work

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Transcript

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0:00.0	I think we should leave it in. All right, yes, Melbourne, Australia might be more of a tech hub than
0:09.6	in Melbourne, Florida. Is it you? You sit me down, say it straight, another story on the way who got the truth.
0:27.0	Welcome back to episode 30 of acquired, the podcast about technology acquisitions and IPOs.
0:33.5	I'm Ben Gilbert.
0:34.5	I'm David Rosenthal.
0:35.8	And we are your hosts.
0:37.5	Today's episode, we're covering two acquisitions that we believe go together nicely.
0:42.0	Apple's acquisition of PA Semi and authentic.
0:46.4	We think it's a really nice way to mark the 10th anniversary of the iPhone, just a few weeks ago.
0:51.0	These acquisitions led Apple's A-series chips inside the phone and the
0:55.9	touch ID sensor which have a nice confluence where they they work together well.
1:00.3	Indeed. David, how are you doing today?
1:03.0	I am doing good. I am in cold but sunny Boston today.
1:07.0	Hey, I'm in cold but cloudy Seattle.
1:11.0	It's kind of crazy that this is episode 30. I feel like we need like a
1:14.8	like a birthday party for a quiet or something. We're getting old. I know. I know. Well I'm
1:19.2	marking it by being highly, highly caffeinated and And for listeners, most episodes we record in the evenings. And
1:27.0	today I'm recording from home, David's recording from the road, and sip and coffee.
1:31.6	Morning Show. Yeah. All right listeners our sponsor is one of our
1:36.7	favorite companies, Vanta and we have something very new from them to share. Of course you
1:41.6	know Vanta enables companies to generate more revenue
1:44.4	by getting their compliance certifications. That's SAC 2, ISO 2701,
	...

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