Apple has reportedly taken its fight with supplier Imagination Technologies to another level.
The tech giant has opened a 22,500-square-foot office in St Albans, Hertfordshire, England just a short distance from the headquarters of Imagination Technologies, The Telegraph is reporting. According to the news outlet, Apple will use the office to develop graphics technology that might eventually find its way to iPhones and other devices.
Apple’s decision to move there is likely no coincidence. The company is embroiled in an increasingly bitter spat with Imagination Technologies, which has been providing Apple the graphics technology used in iPhones for years.
In April, Apple (AAPL) announced that it would stop using Imagination’s technology in the processor that powers its iPhones, and would therefore stop paying royalty payments to its supplier within the next two years. Imagination’s shares plummeted more than 70% after the announcement.
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Since then, Imagination (IGNMF) has argued that Apple can’t build graphics technology in its devices without violating the U.K. Company’s patents. It has also started a “dispute resolution procedure” with Apple. But so far, that hasn’t yielded any positive results.
While Imagination has gone on the offensive and suggested that Apple’s move was “highly regrettable,” the iPhone maker last week fired back by calling the U.K. Company’s commentary on the matter “inaccurate and misleading.”
The Telegraph didn’t say when Apple opened the U.K. Office, but it might have some luck attracting Imagination employees. According to the report, Apple has posted a slew of job postings for graphics employees who would work in the new office. Those roles are the same that employees might have at Imagination’s headquarters, leading to the possibility of the tech giant poaching talent from its supplier.
Apple, however, hasn’t publicly said why it’s opened the location and whether it will look to attract Imagination employees to the office.
Neither Apple nor Imagination immediately responded to a Coins2Day request for comment.