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A lesser - known but significant player in the Silicon Valley tech cosmos is getting assume today — a move that underscores the changing economics in the reality of hardware . Surfaceink , a company thatgot its showtime as Apple ’s central computer hardware engineering partnerafter the return of Steve Jobs as CEO , is being acquire byPwC , the professional services firm that provide accounting system , management consultancy , IT and more to its enterprise customers .
Financial footing of the deal are not being disclosed . Surfaceink — which today not only prototypes and plan hardware that ranges from consumer devices through to strong-arm object used in enterprise environs , but also operates research laboratory to test for acoustic , electronics and more — has never raised any remote financial support .
The companionship has around 50 employees in the Bay Area and all of them will be joining PwC as part of the deal . That includes Eric Bauswell , the CEO who founded the society .
Surfaceink will also be make for on work it has in progress with existing customers while also play with PwC on winning new clientele .
Bauswell , in an consultation , worsen to say how many customer the troupe has , who they are and what they are working on . However , the epithet of customers retiring and present , heel on its site , is a authentic who’s - who of the engineering science industry : They let in Amazon , Apple , Atari , Dell , Facebook , Google , HP , Intel , Microsoft , PayPal , Qualcomm and more .
PwC is not incisively hump for being a player in the computer hardware space . But it has a number of major technology company as customer already , and significantly , a number of other company that are either concerned in build up computer hardware products to extend their engagement with customers , or on a more basic , strategical degree , concerned in exploring what they might do with ironware — theirs or that of third - company partners — now and in the future to grow their line .
With Sufaceink , PwC gains both in - firm expertise to considerably empathise that constituent of their customer ’ patronage , and also reach the door to potentially get take in working on that for them . The trend to widen engagement was also something driving Surfaceink to research what its next steps would be . Bauswell said those exploration let in potentially taking on outside investment to build out in - house consulting but remain independent .
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“ It was on the blackguard of a strategical refresh within PwC , ” said Jenny Koehler , PwC ’s business development head who process on strategic increase and help oneself seek out Surfaceink . “ We ’re always scanning the market for interesting companies , whether it ’s partnership or acquisition , and Surfaceink was one of them . It happened to be at the same time that they were explore [ alternatives ] for their purposes to be able-bodied to birth more broadly speaking with their clients . ” She sound out the pair start talking well over a year ago .
“ There ’s a long laundry inclination of reason why different companies would want to mould with us . And they all stop up being very individualized , ” add Bauswell . “ In general , it ’s that we ’ve get a squad that ’s got a ton of experience in transport product . When people desire to ship a new product or go after a new business sector or create a unexampled business whole , you know , a lot of times we will be the first boots on the ground . They ’ll start to flesh out their squad , and we stand that , for them to be sustainable beyond our engagement . drop into a cohesive squad to execute , with an experienced team that ’s shipped a lot of products , it palliate a lot of that risk . ”
Now , as part of a big - five consulting firm , Surfaceink arguably look like an even more de - risked partner to even larger clients , who may be coming from well outside of technical school but need to explore ways of leveraging it better in the future .
For its part , Surfaceink has had a very interesting and pivotal role in the exploitation of the technology manufacture . It was founded in 1999 , specifically to be a partner to Apple , which had ambitious and recollective - term plan in post with the reinstatement of Steve Jobs as chief operating officer in 1997 .
The pair worked together on , essentially , every piece of ironware that Apple was make at the time , including the iMac , PowerBook , iPod , iPhone , iPad and MacBook . That relationship , interestingly , assume a sorry turn in 2010 , when Surfaceink prove off its own pill designs as part of its crusade to wreak on new customers .
Apple soon after dropped the company . Bauswell , speaking to TheNew York Timesat the time , said it was due to “ Apple ’s growing consciousness of our gaoler capabilities … I imagine they view our capacity as an chance for competitors , ” he said .
Of course , Apple had taken off into the stratosphere as a business by this level , and so there would have been an argument for the enlarged ship’s company to work more hardware engineering in house irrespective .
That ’s a route Apple has take with other aspects of its product intention , from chipmaking to map and streaming services development . It seemed , too , that Apple alsopoached peopleafter the separation . Even today , there are at least 15 people at Apple working in computer hardware applied science who had antecedently worked at Surfaceink , accord to a scan ofLinkedIn .
