Phoenix Technologies Ltd is an American company that designs, develops and supports core system software for personal computers and other computing devices. The company's products commonly referred to as

BIOS In computing, BIOS (, ; Basic Input/Output System, also known as the System BIOS, ROM BIOS, BIOS ROM or PC BIOS) is firmware used to provide runtime services for operating systems and programs and to perform hardware initialization during the ...

(Basic Input/Output System) or firmware support and enable the compatibility, connectivity, security and management of the various components and technologies used in such devices. Phoenix Technologies and IBM developed the

El Torito El Torito (Spanish for "the little bull") is an American chain that serves Mexican food. El Torito operates 69 restaurants primarily in California.Massachusetts in September 1979, and its headquarters are in Campbell, California.

History

In 1979, Neil Colvin formed what was then called Phoenix Software Associates after his prior employer, Xitan, went out of business. Neil hired Dave Hirschman, a former Xitan employee. During 1980–1981, they rented office space for the first official Phoenix location at 151 Franklin Street, Boston, Massachusetts. In this same time period Phoenix purchased a non-exclusive license for

Seattle Computer Products Seattle Computer Products (SCP) was a Tukwila, Washington, microcomputer hardware company which was one of the first manufacturers of computer systems based on the 16-bit Intel 8086 processor. SCP began shipping its first S-100 bus 8086 CPU bo ...

86-DOS 86-DOS (known internally as QDOS, for Quick and Dirty Operating System) is a discontinued operating system developed and marketed by Seattle Computer Products (SCP) for its Intel 8086-based computer kit. 86-DOS shared a few of its commands wit ...

. Phoenix developed customized versions of 86-DOS (or sometimes called PDOS for Phoenix DOS) for various microprocessor platforms. Phoenix also provided PMate as a replacement for Edlin as the DOS file editor. Phoenix also developed C language libraries, called PForCe, along with Plink-86/Plink-86plus, overlay linkers, and Pfix-86, a windowed Debugger for DOS. These products only provided a small revenue stream to Phoenix during the early 1980s and the company did not significantly expand in size.

Cloning the IBM PC BIOS

After the success of the

IBM PC The IBM Personal Computer (model 5150, commonly known as the IBM PC) is the first microcomputer released in the IBM PC model line and the basis for the IBM PC compatible de facto standard. Released on August 12, 1981, it was created by a team ...

, many companies began making

PC clones IBM PC compatible computers are similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT, all from computer giant IBM, that are able to use the same software and expansion cards. Such computers were referred to as PC clones, IBM clones or IBM PC clones. ...

. Some, like Compaq, developed their own compatible ROM

, but others violated copyright by directly copying the PC's BIOS from the ''IBM PC Technical Reference Manual''. After ''

Apple Computer, Inc. v. Franklin Computer Corp. ''Apple Computer, Inc. v. Franklin Computer Corp.'', 714 F.2d 1240 (3d Cir. 1983), was the first time an appellate level court in the United States held that a computer's BIOS could be protected by copyright. As second impact, this ruling clarifie ...

'' IBM sued companies that it claimed infringed IBM's copyright. Clone manufacturers needed a legal, fully compatible BIOS. To develop a legal BIOS, Phoenix used a clean room design. Engineers read the BIOS source listings in the ''IBM PC Technical Reference Manual''. They wrote technical specifications for the BIOS APIs for a single, separate engineer—one with experience programming the Texas Instruments TMS9900, not the Intel 8088 or 8086—who had not been exposed to IBM BIOS source code. The single engineer developed code to mimic the BIOS APIs. By recording the audit trail of the two groups' interactions, Phoenix developed a defensibly non-infringing IBM PC compatible ROM BIOS. Because the programmers who wrote the Phoenix code never read IBM's reference manuals, nothing they wrote could have been copied from IBM's code, no matter how closely the two matched. This reverse engineering technique is commonly referred to as a "

Chinese wall A Chinese wall or ethical wall is an information barrier protocol within an organization designed to prevent exchange of information or communication that could lead to conflicts of interest. For example, a Chinese wall may be established to sepa ...

". This story was portrayed in the TV show

Halt and Catch Fire (TV_series) ''Halt and Catch Fire'' is an American period drama television series created by Christopher Cantwell and Christopher C. Rogers. It aired on the cable network AMC in the United States from June 1, 2014, to October 14, 2017, spanning four season ...

. The first Phoenix PC ROM BIOS was introduced in May 1984, which enabled OEMs such as

Hewlett-Packard The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Palo Alto, California. HP developed and provided a wide variety of hardware components ...

, Tandy Corporation, and

AT&T Computer Systems AT&T Computer Systems is the generic name for American Telephone & Telegraph's unsuccessful attempt to compete in the computer business. In return for divesting the local Bell Operating Companies (Baby Bells), AT&T was allowed to have an unregulat ...

to build essentially 100%-compatible clones without having to reverse-engineer the PC BIOS themselves as Compaq had.Phoenix Eagerly Waiting to Clone Next-Generation IBM BIOS
''InfoWorld'', March 9, 1987 Phoenix licensed the BIOS to clone makers for $290,000. To reassure customers, the company obtained a $2 million insurance policy from The Hartford against copyright-infringement lawsuits. Phoenix's revenues grew by 100% in 1987, and the company shifted to licensing the BIOS on a per-machine basis instead of a flat fee. Competitors appeared, such as

AMI BIOS AMI (American Megatrends International LLC, formerly American Megatrends Inc.) is an international hardware and software company, specializing in PC hardware and firmware. The company was founded in 1985 by Pat Sarma and Subramonian Shankar. It ...

. Phoenix shipped an IBM PC/AT-compatible BIOS six months after the computer's announcement, and also developed IBM

Personal System/2 The Personal System/2 or PS/2 is IBM's second generation of personal computers. Released in 1987, it officially replaced the IBM PC, XT, AT, and PC Convertible in IBM's lineup. Many of the PS/2's innovations, such as the 16550 UART (serial po ...

Micro Channel-compatible BIOS, including the

ABIOS In computing, BIOS (, ; Basic Input/Output System, also known as the System BIOS, ROM BIOS, BIOS ROM or PC BIOS) is firmware used to provide runtime services for operating systems and programs and to perform hardware initialization during the ...

, and EISA compatible BIOS during 1988 and 1989.

1987–1989

In 1987, Phoenix began the first of many expansion, acquisition, and collapse cycles. It acquired Softstyle, Inc, and Softset, Inc, and began a printer emulation product line, and a Phoenix publishing division. Phoenix also tripled the number of employees from late 1986 to 1989. Phoenix launched an

IPO An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...

in June 1988 and made the founder and early employees instant millionaires on paper. The stock price did not sustain its peak of 18¾, and by late 1989 it had plummeted to 3¾. In addition, the company posted a loss of $7.7 million in 1989, due primarily to the consolidation of the PC market, and Phoenix's unsuccessful branching out into collateral markets. In December 1989, Ron Fisher took over as CEO, and again the company focused on the core PC BIOS products, and prevented a hostile takeover bid by Norwood Partners Limited Partnership.

1990s

By 1992, Phoenix was financially healthy enough to start another expansion and acquisition cycle. In January 1992, Phoenix acquired Quadtel, a leading BIOS supplier. The Quadtel BIOS code base was newer than the original Phoenix ROM BIOS code base, and the development effort switched to the Quadtel products. It was rebranded as PhoenixBIOS. The original ROM BIOS code base was used on a joint development effort with David Keenan at IBM (called SurePath), but Phoenix did no further development work on the original code. Phoenix also expanded its presence in foreign markets. In 1993 Phoenix acquired SRI KK, a Phoenix distributor, and formed the Phoenix KK Japanese subsidiary. In addition, the offices in Taipei, and Europe were expanded in size. In 1994, Phoenix acquired Guildford, Surrey, UK-based

DIP Research The Atari Portfolio (Atari PC Folio) is an IBM PC-compatible palmtop PC, released by Atari Corporation in June 1989. This makes it the world's first palmtop computer.

Ltd. and continued to expand European operations, who had previously developed the

DIP DOS The Atari Portfolio (Atari PC Folio) is an IBM PC-compatible palmtop PC, released by Atari Corporation in June 1989. This makes it the world's first palmtop computer.

operating system for the ''DIP Pocket PC'' aka Atari Portfolio in 1989. In 1996, Phoenix acquired Virtual Chips, Inc., a maker of synthesizable cores for PC peripherals, and Mountain View, California-based Award Software in 1998. Due to these expansions, Phoenix reduced its global work force by 5% by ending 38 jobs.

2001–2003

Phoenix continued to grow steadily from the late 1990s, and saw a significant increase in revenues from the Y2K product refreshes in the PC industry. However, by mid-2001, the PC industry suffered another downturn, and Phoenix was forced to reduce the less profitable product lines, such as the IA-64 effort, and close a number of redundant offices. Phoenix again focused on the core BIOS business for the next few years. During late 2002 and 2003, Phoenix began to develop specialized firmware-based applications. These applications often had components embedded in the BIOS that allowed them to function in damaged PC systems. These included security applications for password hiding and authentication, PC backup and recovery applications, and basic diagnostic applications. Several applications were obtained through complete acquisitions of other companies, such as the SPEKE technology from Integrity Sciences, or the browser technology from Ravisent. The PC BIOS business continued its steady, but slow, growth despite a rapidly declining unit price. The Award product line was focused on the low-margin, high volume Desktop product line, while the Phoenix TrustedCore BIOS was primarily successful in the high-end PC systems, and Servers. The revenues from the BIOS business continued to provide the capital to invest further in the applications business.

2005–2008

By late 2005, it became clear that the BIOS revenues could not sustain the losses incurred by the applications business. The BIOS revenue stream was heavily leveraged through fully paid-up licenses, and by early 2006 this business model was no longer sustainable. Phoenix announced some of the largest losses in the company history, and went through another consolidation cycle. Several offices were closed and over 70% of the employees were laid off. By late 2006, after senior management changes, the company refocused on the PC BIOS business and the couple of potentially profitable applications. In September, the company named Woodson "Woody" Hobbs as president and CEO of Phoenix Technologies. Hobbs had a history of turning struggling companies around. According to company documents, "prior to joining Phoenix, Hobbs served as president and CEO of Intellisync Corporation from 2002 until the company's acquisition by Nokia in February 2006. Under Hobbs' leadership, Intellisync became the number two wireless email company, increased its stock price by nearly ten times, and grew enterprise value from zero to over $430 million." By January 2008, Phoenix had posted higher-than-expected Q1 revenues and increased full year guidance. In 2008, Phoenix also acquired several companies: * In May, Phoenix acquired BeInSync, Ltd., an Israeli-based provider of an all-in-one solution that allows users to back up, synchronize, share and access data online. Although Phoenix did not disclose the amount of the transaction, according to at least one online report, Phoenix acquired BeInSync for $25 million. * In July, in an effort to develop a strong online presence and infrastructure for web-based automated service delivery, Phoenix acquired

TouchStone Software Corporation TouchStone Software Corporation, Inc., founded in 1982, is an American software developer for the personal computer (PC) industry, specializing in system update technology.HijackPro HijackThis (also HiJackThis or HJT) is a free and open-source tool to detect malware and adware on Microsoft Windows. It was originally created by Merijn Bellekom, and later sold to Trend Micro. The program is notable for quickly scanning a user's ...

and

Drivermagic Phoenix Technologies Ltd is an American company that designs, develops and supports core system software for personal computers and other computing devices. The company's products commonly referred to as BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) or firm ...

software from Glenn Bluff. The net value of the transaction was approximately $17 million. * In September, Phoenix acquired

General Software General Software was a Washington, USA based creator and supplier of system software headquartered in Bellevue, Washington. It was founded in 1989 by Steve Jones and later incorporated in 1990 as General Software, Inc. In 2008, the company was ...

of Bellevue, WA, to extend its firmware leadership to a wide array of specialized high-value, high-margin devices that use embedded processors ( embedded systems), from mobile and consumer electronics to data communications.

2009–2010

In 2009, Phoenix shut down their Engineering and Sales offices in Shanghai and Nanjing,

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. Phoenix also laid off most of the staff in those offices, although some of the managers were moved to other offices in Taiwan. Phoenix opened a new office in Bangalore, India and closed its office in Hyderabad, India. Most of the Hyderabad employees were given the option to move to the new Bangalore office. In late Q4 2009, Phoenix began exploring strategic alternatives for the products it had developed and purchased in its prior acquisition phase. On January 5, 2010, Phoenix announced it had hired GrowthPoint Technology partners to find alternative business strategies for the FailSafe, HyperSpace and eSupport.com products and would aim to refocus its business strategy on BIOS where it still retained a substantial majority of its revenue. On April 9, 2010 it was announced that Absolute Software would pay $6.9 million for Phoenix Technologies security technologies, including FailSafe and Freeze. In August 2010, Marlin Equity Partners, a Los Angeles-based private investment firm, acquired the outstanding shares of Phoenix Technologies for $139 million.

References

External links

* * {{Authority control BIOS Software companies established in 1979 1979 establishments in Massachusetts Companies based in Pasadena, California Private equity portfolio companies Software companies based in California Hewlett-Packard acquisitions 2010 mergers and acquisitions 2013 mergers and acquisitions Software companies of the United States