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The Register has found out this week that Apple will continue supporting PA Semi’s line of PowerPC based processors and still employ some of the company’s staff.  The article points out that the reason for this may lie in the military’s interest in the low power chips from this company, but also says that Apple has no plans of moving the actual architecture forward.  So what does this all mean?

I’m sure Apple has no plans of getting involved with military technology at all, but you never know with Steve Jobs.  What is more likely is that Apple will use PA Semi’s architecture and engineers to help make their current products more efficient, especially the 3G iPhone which Steve has said will be a large drain on battery life.  However, that is a rather small purpose for $278 million, so Apple may have more than expected up their sleeve.  What do you think the real reason behind this acquisition is?