Apple's Acquisition of Chip Design Firm Intrinsity Confirmed

The New York Times confirms that Apple has acquired Intrinsity, an Austin, Texas company that has played an integral role in speeding up ARM-based chip designs such as those used in Apple's iPhone OS devices. Speculation that Apple had purchased Intrinsity arose early this month, and MacRumors discovered evidence on professional networking site LinkedIn that seemed to confirm that a number of Intrinsity employees had transitioned to Apple.

Apple has finalized a deal to acquire a small chip company called Intrinsity, Apple confirmed. Intrinsity, of Austin, Tex., made a name for itself by creating a fast chip for mobile devices in cooperation with Samsung, both a partner and competitor to Apple.

Many experts in the chip industry have speculated that Apple relied on Intrinsity's chip as the basis for the main engine behind its new iPad.

As usual, an Apple spokesperson declined to comment further on the acquisition, acknowledging only that it occasionally purchases smaller companies and as a policy does not comment on plans for them.

Update: A revised and expanded version of the article now cites claims that Apple paid $121 million for Intrinsity.