Apple Says Imagination Knew Relationship Was Winding Down Years Ago

Imagination Technologies knew Apple was winding down its relationship with the company years ago but only informed investors of the news in April, says Apple.

In a statement provided to Bloomberg, Apple said it informed Imagination Technologies that it would no longer be purchasing its latest technology in 2015. Then in 2016, Apple activated a clause in its contract that allowed the company to pay a lower royalty rate for using a smaller amount of intellectual property. By February of 2017, Apple says it told Imagination the relationship would ended altogether and royalty payments could stop as soon as early 2018.

“We began working with Imagination in 2007 and stopped accepting new IP from them in 2015," Apple said. "After lengthy discussions we advised them on February 9 that we expected to wind down our licensing agreement since we need unique and differentiating IP for our products. We valued our past relationship and wanted to give them as much notice as possible to adapt their future plans."


Imagination Technologies recently lashed out at Apple in their annual report claiming, "Apple informed us at the end of March that it will no longer use the Group's intellectual property in its new products in 15 months to two years' time, and as such Imagination will not be eligible for royalty payments under the current license and royalty agreement."

It now appears as though Apple's move to its own IP had plenty of lead up. "We’re disappointed in their response, which has been inaccurate and misleading," says Apple. The company also noted Imagination would have no way of knowing how its future products are designed. Imagination has repeatedly claimed that Apple couldn't design a GPU without their technology.

Please follow iClarified on Twitter, Facebook, or RSS for updates.

Read More