On August 26, according to EE Times, Imagination Technologies, a well-known chip design manufacturer, has received an investment in the form of a $100 million convertible term loan from Fortress Investment Group. Imagination will use the funding to support the development of its edge graphics, computing and AI technologies, as well as fund its ambitious growth targets.

Imagination was founded in the United Kingdom nearly 40 years ago and today Imagination IP is used in 13 billion devices worldwide. The company has faced a rather tumultuous period in recent years, being acquired by China-backed private equity firm Canyon Bridge in November 2017 after losing Apple, its largest customer at the time. Imagination also sold its recently acquired MIPS at the time. Since then, the company has struggled to turn a profit, and while the new leadership team is underway, there have been some hiccups along the way.

"The Chinese market is more challenging than we thought because of the impact of the United Kingdom's export control regime and China's Entity List on us and our revenue," Simon Beresford-Wylie, CEO of Imagination, said in an exclusive interview with EE Times. "As a result, we made some layoffs last year to keep costs in line with revenue."

In 2019, China accounted for one-third of Imagination's business, then-CEO Ron · Black told EE Times at the time. Beresford-Wylie said that in addition to the more difficult regulatory environment, China's Covid-19 response has had an impact on the market there, with Chinese customers moving into "cash-saving mode". The combination of these factors meant that Imagination lost some of its key Chinese customers in the data centre and desktop sectors. Beresford-Wylie said this led to flat revenues, which in turn led to Imagination laying off 30% of its workforce by the end of 2023 – a move he described as "painful".

Editor: Xinzhixun-Rogue Sword

This article is from Xinzhi self-media and does not represent the views and positions of Business Xinzhi.If there is any suspicion of infringement, please contact the administrator of the Business News Platform.Contact: system@shangyexinzhi.com