Imagination Technology is primarily known for its GPU IP, used by a wide range of companies in the industry, but in 2021, the company expanded its business with the release of RISC-V Catapult CPU IP to reach various market segments with an end-to-end CPU+GPU solution. However, it appears that business has not met the company’s expectations, so it has decided to abandon RISC-V to focus on GPU and AI IP, reports eeNews Europe.
“Imagination has exited its standalone processor line to increase our investments in graphics, artificial intelligence and edge computing, which we believe is transformational for our business,” Imagination said in a statement to eeNews Europe.
Despite this shift, Imagination remains committed to the RISC-V ecosystem. The company is willing to work with RISC-V processor and CPU IP developers to try to become the “GPU supplier of choice” for the entire ecosystem, rather than pursuing projects that its range of processor IPs might cover.
Indeed, the company’s line of RISC-V IP processors was not very broad and included microcontroller IPs, embedded real-time processors, entry-level automotive processors, and, more recently, a 64-bit core capable of competing with the Arm Cortex-A510 processor . A520. While this portfolio could potentially allow Imagination to license its cores to dozens or hundreds of companies (especially in China), it would not be able to satisfy the needs of the top end of the market, which is small today but could grow in the coming years.
Imagination’s decision to shift its focus solely to GPUs is a bit ironic given its history with MIPS, a company that designed processors based on its own instruction set architecture, was acquired by Imagination in 2013, then sold in 2017, went bankrupt, and then again – appeared in 2020 as a developer of the RISC-V IP processor.
A recent report on Imagination Technologies indicated that its current owner Canyon Bridge Capital Partners tasked asset management firm to find buyer for GPU developer.
This comes weeks after UK-China watchdog Transparency accused Imagination Technologies and its Chinese government-controlled owner of facilitating the transfer of key Imagination intellectual property to Chinese GPU developers Biren Technology, InnoSilicon and Moore Threads. These technologies have reportedly enabled Chinese companies to develop advanced GPUs that could be used to develop artificial intelligence, military and supercomputing applications.