Imagination Tech Says No Progress on Apple Dispute, Sale Talks Continue

British chip designer Imagination Technologies said it had made no progress in its battle with its biggest customer Apple, and the sale of the company triggered by the dispute was continuing with talks with potential buyers.

Imagination said in April that Apple had decided to develop its own graphics chips and would no longer use Imagination's processing designs in 15 months to two years time, sending its shares down 70 percent on the day.

The company, which put itself up for sale last month, said it returned to profitability in the year to end-April, with reported operating profit of GBP 7.8 million ($10.1 million or roughly Rs. 65.4 crores) against a loss of GBP 26.8 million (roughly Rs. 224 crores) a year earlier.

Chief Executive Andrew Heath said: "Apple's unsubstantiated assertions and the resultant dispute have forced us to change our course, despite the clear progress we have been making."

Imagination has licensed its processing designs to Apple from the time of the first iPod and receives a small royalty on every device using its graphics.

Imagination's shares rose sharply between 2009 and 2012 as sales of smartphones boomed, prompting Apple and Intel to buy stakes and the company was valued at more than GBP 2 billion in April 2012. Apple owns 8 percent of the shares.

Imagination struggled, however, to reduce its reliance on Apple, and has faced increased competition from the likes of chipmaker Qualcomm and British rival ARM, which developed its own graphics to complement its core processor blueprints.

© Thomson Reuters 2017