For the last two years a segment of the press has worked to keep their eyes on the real long term focus for Apple: their under-the-covers intellectual property. Not just the software, rather the battery life and more importantly the CPU. And if the Apple iPad is any indicator, Apple’s purchase of fabless chipmaker PA Semi could be the greatest acquisition any company’s made over the last decade. That’s right: any company.
Here’s what we know: the iPad is a flamethrower. It’s nasty fast. So fast the iPad’s speed is often the first thing anyone who’s touched it mentions. It’s great to see software and interface guys like John Gruber talk in detail about the iPad’s blazing performance. When that happens, you know it’s hot.
As Gruber also points out, what’s scary for the competition now is not the package Apple’s put together with this device. Frankly, Apple’s competitors have spent well over two years being scared and trying anything to catch up or differentiate. No, what’s got to keep the also-rans up at night is the beginning of the end of the battles on the commodity hardware market. They used to compete with Apple to be the first to market with the fastest devices, and nowhere has this been more visible and critical than the mobile processor sector. With Apple’s A4 mobile CPU serving as the iPad’s engine (and companies like Intel and Samsung on the outside looking in), the game has changed forever.
The ‘real’ Web 2.0 and Internet 3.0 begin and end with mobile devices, and that’s why Apple now touts itself as the largest mobile device company in the world. It can’t be overstated: the mobile industry is now firmly positioned to completely supplant every computing technology we’ve created and used to this point. The iPhone and App Store set the table, and future devices will drive the hole ever more open. Starts to make Apple’s acquisition of mobile ad firm Quattro Wireless look pretty smart, doesn’t it?
Even if Apple’s competitors come within shouting distance of their technological advantages on the software front (and some might say Google Android and Palm WebOS are in fact in that ballpark), Apple’s ability to deliver far superior processor performance means a massive advantage every time you try these devices head-to-head in the future.
More importantly it raises the performance ceiling dramatically for Apple, meaning their ability to drive more ‘wow’ features into iPhone OS will far exceed what the Googles, Palms, Nokias, and Microsofts of the world will be able to achieve.
This is a one horse race unless another entrant steps up and attempts to change the game rules.
