Imagination Technologies Share Discussion Threads

[fishman13] 11/7/2017 07:30

The point I was making is that Apple don't always make a success of introducing new technology. Dropping IMG which has great technology is a definite risk. Apple is very dependent on the iPhone for its bottom line. The new products have been rather dissapointing (watch, TV). In the days of the iphone 3, 4 and 5 there were sufficient advances to merit splashing out for an upgrade. Those days are gone as improvements are now incremental. The same thing happened with PCs. Personally, for example I prefer the iphone 6S to the iPhone 7. It makes more sense to keep a phone you like and go to a SIM only contract rather than fork out £700 every 2 years. Apple may seem unassailable at the moment, but then so did TWA, ICI, GEC etc back in the day. Apple can and do make mistakes and abandoning IMG may turn out to be one of them. Perhaps they should have paid a reduced royalty and built on the IMG base rather than trying to squeeze every last cent out of their cost base and risk patent disputes for years.

[mallorca 9] 11/7/2017 07:20

dontbuy ...

I think it will fall much further than that my friend.

[mallorca 9] 11/7/2017 07:19

If you're looking to apportion blame - look no further than IMG's management.
I wonder also whether they put an overly optimistic tone to the 'several parties have approached us re buying the whole Company'.
There hardly seems to be any rush to pay £400m for this sinking ship.
Look's like a slow death is inevitable.

[dontbuuy] 11/7/2017 07:13

Heading to 100p again?

[sheep_herder] 10/7/2017 23:33

FISHY - "Tney have made a big mistake in doing the dirty on Imagination.". Explain? What's going to happen? They're going to continue to sell millions upon millions of products perhaps? No one will care or even know who IMG are I'd guess.

As an aside, those calling foul play should probably realise that every other company in the UK is also trying their hardest to recruit the best from IMG. It's quite easy given the dire predicament they find themselves in. Not many can compete with the salary and stock options of Apple though. Good business if you ask me. Wouldn't be surprised to see a few more join Apple from ARM now that they're only 80 mins commute away.

[hammerd2] 10/7/2017 21:18

As Apple are claiming they no longer need IMG IP they would argue - if they were even giving IMG a second thought - that they have no need to buy the company. However they have bought countless companies for ludicrous sums of money in the past solely to get skilled engineers so why on earth not ? It would be the decent thing and would likely not have cost any more than the ad hoc hiring and property deals done to date to achieve what they have so far, which is not yet having workable product.

It's also slightly bizarre that Apple thought the IP being developed was being used by competitors as IMG's biggest failing was their singular lack of success in getting their high end IP licensed by anyone outside of Apple !

It's almost as though they think as highly of IMG's current board level talent as I do and now want to see them squirm. At the risk of opening the can of worms marked 'HY - do not open on pain of endless circular arguments boring you to death' I remain convinced that a relatively healthy and mutually beneficial relationship would have been maintained with Apple had he remained at the helm as he was often derided by many for his desire to devote as many resources as required to Apple.

Retaining a pointless chump change 8% stake is just adding to the cruelty and bewildering nature of the whole affair and the sooner it's over or the share price hits 170 the better.

[fishman13] 10/7/2017 20:05

Not me! I will look elsewhere for my next phone. While I am at it Siri is complete rubbish! Recently, I asked when crossrail would open in London. siri replied "I have found these 12 hotels that match your requirements". I also bought the latest Apple TV which was a big mistake. Very, very poor product. Apple is not infallible. Tney have made a big mistake in doing the dirty on Imagination.

[nicandy] 10/7/2017 19:40

I totally agree but how many of you will still go out & give them money by buying their products?

[rob_evans] 10/7/2017 19:23

I fully understand that Apple would like to have exclusive access to the world beating IP IMG develop.

It must gall Apple that they effectively bankroll IMG, only to see their competitors get equal access to the best IP.

However there is a right way and a wrong way to resolve that situation.

The right way would have been to buy IMG, thus ensuring that Apple's competitors have to make do with second best IP.

The wrong way is to do what they are now doing - sabotage IMG by no longer using its IP, but keep an 8% stake, and then poach its best engineers, thus ensuring that no one else will want to bid for IMG. End result - Apple get what they want without having to buy the entire company.

I think Apple's strategy is despicable, and goes way beyond what is acceptable business behaviour.

[richardc77] 10/7/2017 16:52

Many have added too, but your point is valid yep

[jamesrowe] 10/7/2017 16:41

Or perhaps they can't offload enough shares at a reasonable price without trashing the share price?

[richardc77] 10/7/2017 16:40

Lol, yes they will always play with Apple as they are the biggest kid in the playground, sadly rarely does that equate to people shunning them in the business world.

[richardc77] 10/7/2017 16:39

I only remain invested here due to some significant holders who have not bailed. They must be informed to some degree, I believe.

[jamesrowe] 10/7/2017 16:38

What will Apple's remaining suppliers be thinking now?? Would you do business with this company?

[jamesrowe] 10/7/2017 16:36

I notice that Baillie Gifford added to its 42 million shares on Friday....

[rob_evans] 10/7/2017 16:28

Indeed.

An IP company such as IMG has two main assets:

1. The patents

2. The people

As Apple are apparently determined to lure away hundreds of IMG engineers into their 22,500 sq ft offices, that will have a major effect on the value of IMG.

It may be legal but it certainly isn't moral, and I'm shocked and appalled at Apple's behaviour. They could have just done the right thing and bought IMG - it would have been loose change to them!

[crystal_balls2] 10/7/2017 16:22

St Albans today King's Langley tomorrow? Playing havoc with the share price - there is degradation at play here - IP is also within the people who work/ed for IMG not just the products they produce and who are then poached by such as Apple.

[richardc77] 10/7/2017 15:35

Sit tight or sell up and move on.

Exactly, agreed.

[hammerd2] 10/7/2017 15:21

If what Apple says is true then "loss" is only really an issue for anyone who bought shares, on the basis that Apple were still committed IMG customers, between the time Apple say they told IMG they were jumping ship and the time IMG told the market. Outside of that it's just bellyaching for the sake of it. The share price would have tanked WHENEVER the news came out so any holders before Apple "told" IMG they were leaving would still have lost out, just earlier. As it happens, I got lucky that IMG didn't say anything til the did.

Any "legal"s are going to be down to very fine interpretations of various levels of he said, she said. It's done and we're extremely unlikely to get a court date to settle it so dwelling on it is only going to cause ulcers. Sit tight or sell up and move on.

[nearlythere] 10/7/2017 14:45

If apple have been communicating with img for a number of years regarding a scaling back of their need img GPu ip then it is very possible the apple, having access to the best technical minds and unlimited resources, may have developed a new parallel processing system which may also function as a GPu.

The question for me is that if apple have been communicating to img that it intended to reduce its reliance on img ip 2 years ago then this would IMO be price sensitive information and imo would have required an RNS,

[mallorca 9] 10/7/2017 14:14

By now I would have expected an update advising that ' discussion are progressing well and that they hope to disclose a preferred bidder' etc.
So far the only statement is that 'preliminary discussion are continuing', and this was only stated as part of the final results.
The price at £1 had a lot of takeover froth in it so a fall will be much more than the 40-50p stated above.
Be careful with that T20 HammerD2.

[twatcher] 10/7/2017 14:02

Given the recent revelations, I'm surprised they didn't buy the building that IMG had for sale in KL :)

[mallorca 9] 10/7/2017 13:38

The business is up for sale and could close.
You couldn't blame staff for leaving.
When you put your business up for sale you will obviously unsettle staff. Some seem to blaming Apple for this.

[mallorca 9] 10/7/2017 13:18

I can only see a sad end for IMG here.