Episode 30: P.A. Semi + AuthenTec

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
Statsig: https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig25
ServiceNow: https://bit.ly/acquiredsn

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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