Imagination Technologies Share Discussion Threads

[life of crime] 03/4/2017 10:10

As a former long term holder, I can only feel sympathy for all still holding. It looks as if IMG have been shafted by Apple and I am concerned that they would not have done this without speaking to their lawyers to ensure they are free from patent infringements.

Even if there is such evidence, IMG could be tied up for years in court and we know who can afford the better lawyers.

What Apple has done is mercenary and revealed what they are really like. They could have bought IMG for less than £1Bn, which is chump change for them and had their own CPU thrown in. Seems like those hires from IMG are looking cynical now. When IMG is leading the BBC radio bulletins, as just now, it is not good.

This is the Dreamcast cancellation all over again. If it were me, I would hold in the short term to see if a new royalty deal can be arranged. A takeover looks less likely, unless it was Apple doing it, although that would raise regulatory issues given they crashed the price. Would another buyer be interested now their biggest customer has walked away, unless IMG can negotiate that new royalty arrangement.

It may be better to cut losses if Apple do not co-operate and then use it as a tax loss. I sympathise, I have been there with Eidos years ago when we shareholders were similarly shafted.

Good luck to all Imagineers, you deserve better.

[kkrriiss2] 03/4/2017 10:09

102 to buy

[stoxx67] 03/4/2017 10:06

well , very soon it will be £1 bid

i bought in recently.

[mister md] 03/4/2017 10:00

in auction

[luckymouse] 03/4/2017 09:58

Ouch - it was in the chart - but only for the sharpest of eyes
Traders would have been out at 100% - but lack of very aggressive OBV/Money Flow sell off before the announcement suggests the move wasn't widely known/leaked. One of the reasons I moved to ITs and a reminder of why one should stick to 'aheads'. Sympathies to holders.

free stock charts from uk.advfn.com

[waterloo01] 03/4/2017 09:54

That was the quickest 20% profit in a long time. In at 81 out at 95 within an hour.

[brokeroad] 03/4/2017 09:54

Must be potential for a one off lump sum divorce settlement, which would not be insubstantial.

[nickk1] 03/4/2017 09:53

This is like Brexit for img. Maybe we will now be free to do some better paying deals with other customers. Apple have no doubt restricted img due to their size and clout.

[countryboy] 03/4/2017 09:50

SH
If IMG has nothing worth having, why have Apple been paying license fees and royalties to them for years?
Clearly this announcement is all part of ongoing royalty and license negotiations, and whether intended or not has put IMG back in the takeover range. So maybe Apple's legal battle wouldn't be with IMG but its new owner.

[rock star] 03/4/2017 09:48

Could be lights out. Only for a the super brave.

[nickk1] 03/4/2017 09:46

"Apple's notification has led Imagination to discuss with Apple potential alternative commercial arrangements for the current license and royalty agreement."
Interesting bit!

[albanyvillas] 03/4/2017 09:46

will be 130p this week i feel

[mister md] 03/4/2017 09:45

"Apple is of a view that it will no longer use the Group's intellectual property in its new products in 15 months to two years time"

so for legacy products there will still be royalties for some time to come

Will it be enough time to turn things around ?

[sheep_herder] 03/4/2017 09:40

Mister MD, for someone to bid, you have to have something worth selling.

[mister md] 03/4/2017 09:37

ARM's final market cap: 24,164 m
IMG now 250m

perhaps small change for a bidder?

IMHO DYOR etc

[sheep_herder] 03/4/2017 09:35

countryboy - don't be naive. There will be no battle of any sort. When was the last time IMG won a patent infringement case? ARM have managed to build a ground up GPU without any issues. And given that Apple know the IMG GPU inside and out, they'll be very careful not to infringe on key areas and will pick their battles when they do infringe.

How are IMG going to be able to afford a multi-year patent battle long after their relationship with Apple has ended? In order to start a patent infringement case you have to have proof that a competitor is violating a patent. This means a real SoC product in real life shows some behaviour that you can file against which is 2 years away.

Perhaps Apple will wait until IMG are about to go bust and then offer to buy a perpetual license for all the IP for some lowball value.

[montyhedge] 03/4/2017 09:34

Surely they can't survive.

[albanyvillas] 03/4/2017 09:32

Softbank bid imho

[ohdearohdearohdear] 03/4/2017 09:31

Legal battle? Apple's resources versus IMG's resources...................no brainer.

[umitw] 03/4/2017 09:30

The drop is over done I think!

[sheep_herder] 03/4/2017 09:28

JamesRowe - do you now see what I was getting at back in June/July about Apple starting up a new team?

[countryboy] 03/4/2017 09:25

This is going to be a very messy legal battle unless Apple does takeover, IMO. However good Apple's in house technology is, it's hard to see it not infringing IMG patents given their reliance on IMG designs to give them a competitive advantage over competitors over many years.

[sheep_herder] 03/4/2017 09:19

ropey - to me this looks like the end. If you're losing 50%+ of your income how the hell can they compete now - their RnD budget will be slashed. I see MIPS being sold out on the cheap to the Chinese just to rid them of that expense, then they'll shed a load of staff in the GPU side (not that they have any good ones left after Apple poached them all), and they'll try and start up again as a GPU only house from the bottom. But they'll fail because ARM has the market sewn up and no new customers are going to want to take a risk on IMG given their dire financial status.

So what can you hope for? A generous bid at a quid to put you out of your misery?