<s>
Phoenix	O
Technologies	O
Ltd	O
is	O
an	O
American	O
company	O
that	O
designs	O
,	O
develops	O
and	O
supports	O
core	O
system	B-Application
software	I-Application
for	O
personal	B-Device
computers	I-Device
and	O
other	O
computing	O
devices	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
company	O
's	O
products	O
commonly	O
referred	O
to	O
as	O
BIOS	B-Operating_System
(	O
Basic	B-Operating_System
Input/Output	I-Operating_System
System	I-Operating_System
)	O
or	O
firmware	O
support	O
and	O
enable	O
the	O
compatibility	O
,	O
connectivity	O
,	O
security	O
and	O
management	O
of	O
the	O
various	O
components	O
and	O
technologies	O
used	O
in	O
such	O
devices	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Phoenix	O
Technologies	O
and	O
IBM	O
developed	O
the	O
El	B-Device
Torito	I-Device
standard	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
this	O
same	O
time	O
period	O
Phoenix	O
purchased	O
a	O
non-exclusive	O
license	O
for	O
Seattle	B-Operating_System
Computer	I-Operating_System
Products	I-Operating_System
86-DOS	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
Phoenix	O
developed	O
customized	O
versions	O
of	O
86-DOS	B-Operating_System
(	O
or	O
sometimes	O
called	O
PDOS	O
for	O
Phoenix	O
DOS	B-Device
)	O
for	O
various	O
microprocessor	B-Architecture
platforms	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Phoenix	O
also	O
provided	O
PMate	O
as	O
a	O
replacement	O
for	O
Edlin	B-Application
as	O
the	O
DOS	B-Device
file	O
editor	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Phoenix	O
also	O
developed	O
C	B-Language
language	I-Language
libraries	O
,	O
called	O
PForCe	O
,	O
along	O
with	O
Plink-86/Plink	O
-86plus	O
,	O
overlay	O
linkers	O
,	O
and	O
Pfix-86	O
,	O
a	O
windowed	O
Debugger	O
for	O
DOS	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
the	O
success	O
of	O
the	O
IBM	B-Device
PC	I-Device
,	O
many	O
companies	O
began	O
making	O
PC	O
clones	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
,	O
like	O
Compaq	O
,	O
developed	O
their	O
own	O
compatible	O
ROM	B-Operating_System
BIOS	I-Operating_System
,	O
but	O
others	O
violated	O
copyright	O
by	O
directly	O
copying	O
the	O
PC	O
's	O
BIOS	B-Operating_System
from	O
the	O
IBM	B-Device
PC	I-Device
Technical	O
Reference	O
Manual	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
Apple	B-Device
Computer	I-Device
,	I-Device
Inc	I-Device
.	I-Device
v	I-Device
.	I-Device
Franklin	I-Device
Computer	I-Device
Corp	I-Device
.	I-Device
IBM	O
sued	O
companies	O
that	O
it	O
claimed	O
infringed	O
IBM	O
's	O
copyright	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Clone	O
manufacturers	O
needed	O
a	O
legal	O
,	O
fully	O
compatible	O
BIOS	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
develop	O
a	O
legal	O
BIOS	B-Operating_System
,	O
Phoenix	O
used	O
a	O
clean	O
room	O
design	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Engineers	O
read	O
the	O
BIOS	B-Operating_System
source	O
listings	O
in	O
the	O
IBM	B-Device
PC	I-Device
Technical	O
Reference	O
Manual	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
wrote	O
technical	O
specifications	O
for	O
the	O
BIOS	B-Operating_System
APIs	O
for	O
a	O
single	O
,	O
separate	O
engineer	O
—	O
one	O
with	O
experience	O
programming	O
the	O
Texas	B-General_Concept
Instruments	I-General_Concept
TMS9900	I-General_Concept
,	O
not	O
the	O
Intel	B-Device
8088	I-Device
or	O
8086	B-General_Concept
—	O
who	O
had	O
not	O
been	O
exposed	O
to	O
IBM	B-Operating_System
BIOS	I-Operating_System
source	O
code	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
single	O
engineer	O
developed	O
code	O
to	O
mimic	O
the	O
BIOS	B-Operating_System
APIs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
recording	O
the	O
audit	O
trail	O
of	O
the	O
two	O
groups	O
 '	O
interactions	O
,	O
Phoenix	O
developed	O
a	O
defensibly	O
non-infringing	O
IBM	B-Device
PC	I-Device
compatible	O
ROM	B-Operating_System
BIOS	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
Phoenix	O
PC	O
ROM	B-Operating_System
BIOS	I-Operating_System
was	O
introduced	O
in	O
May	O
1984	O
,	O
which	O
enabled	O
OEMs	O
such	O
as	O
Hewlett-Packard	O
,	O
Tandy	O
Corporation	O
,	O
and	O
AT&T	O
Computer	O
Systems	O
to	O
build	O
essentially	O
100%	O
-compatible	O
clones	O
without	O
having	O
to	O
reverse-engineer	O
the	O
PC	B-Operating_System
BIOS	I-Operating_System
themselves	O
as	O
Compaq	O
had	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Phoenix	O
licensed	O
the	O
BIOS	B-Operating_System
to	O
clone	O
makers	O
for	O
$	O
290,000	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Phoenix	O
's	O
revenues	O
grew	O
by	O
100%	O
in	O
1987	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
company	O
shifted	O
to	O
licensing	O
the	O
BIOS	B-Operating_System
on	O
a	O
per-machine	O
basis	O
instead	O
of	O
a	O
flat	O
fee	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Competitors	O
appeared	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
AMI	O
BIOS	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
Phoenix	O
shipped	O
an	O
IBM	B-Operating_System
PC/AT	I-Operating_System
-compatible	O
BIOS	B-Operating_System
six	O
months	O
after	O
the	O
computer	O
's	O
announcement	O
,	O
and	O
also	O
developed	O
IBM	B-Device
PS/2	I-Device
Micro	O
Channel-compatible	O
BIOS	B-Operating_System
,	O
including	O
the	O
ABIOS	B-Operating_System
,	O
and	O
EISA	B-Device
compatible	O
BIOS	B-Operating_System
during	O
1988	O
and	O
1989	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
December	O
1989	O
,	O
Ron	O
Fisher	O
took	O
over	O
as	O
CEO	O
,	O
and	O
again	O
the	O
company	O
focused	O
on	O
the	O
core	O
PC	B-Operating_System
BIOS	I-Operating_System
products	O
,	O
and	O
prevented	O
a	O
hostile	O
takeover	O
bid	O
by	O
Norwood	O
Partners	O
Limited	O
Partnership	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
January	O
1992	O
,	O
Phoenix	O
acquired	O
Quadtel	O
,	O
a	O
leading	O
BIOS	B-Operating_System
supplier	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Quadtel	O
BIOS	B-Operating_System
code	O
base	O
was	O
newer	O
than	O
the	O
original	O
Phoenix	O
ROM	B-Operating_System
BIOS	I-Operating_System
code	O
base	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
development	O
effort	O
switched	O
to	O
the	O
Quadtel	O
products	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
original	O
ROM	B-Operating_System
BIOS	I-Operating_System
code	O
base	O
was	O
used	O
on	O
a	O
joint	O
development	O
effort	O
with	O
David	O
Keenan	O
at	O
IBM	O
(	O
called	O
SurePath	O
)	O
,	O
but	O
Phoenix	O
did	O
no	O
further	O
development	O
work	O
on	O
the	O
original	O
code	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1994	O
,	O
Phoenix	O
acquired	O
Guildford	O
,	O
Surrey	O
,	O
UK-based	O
DIP	B-Device
Research	I-Device
Ltd	O
.	O
and	O
continued	O
to	O
expand	O
European	O
operations	O
,	O
who	O
had	O
previously	O
developed	O
the	O
DIP	B-Operating_System
DOS	I-Operating_System
operating	O
system	O
for	O
the	O
DIP	B-Device
Pocket	I-Device
PC	I-Device
aka	O
Atari	B-Device
Portfolio	I-Device
in	O
1989	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Phoenix	O
continued	O
to	O
grow	O
steadily	O
from	O
the	O
late	O
1990s	O
,	O
and	O
saw	O
a	O
significant	O
increase	O
in	O
revenues	O
from	O
the	O
Y2K	B-Error_Name
product	O
refreshes	O
in	O
the	O
PC	O
industry	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
by	O
mid-2001	O
,	O
the	O
PC	O
industry	O
suffered	O
another	O
downturn	O
,	O
and	O
Phoenix	O
was	O
forced	O
to	O
reduce	O
the	O
less	O
profitable	O
product	O
lines	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
IA-64	B-General_Concept
effort	O
,	O
and	O
close	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
redundant	O
offices	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Phoenix	O
again	O
focused	O
on	O
the	O
core	O
BIOS	B-Operating_System
business	O
for	O
the	O
next	O
few	O
years	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
applications	O
often	O
had	O
components	O
embedded	O
in	O
the	O
BIOS	B-Operating_System
that	O
allowed	O
them	O
to	O
function	O
in	O
damaged	O
PC	O
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Several	O
applications	O
were	O
obtained	O
through	O
complete	O
acquisitions	O
of	O
other	O
companies	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
SPEKE	B-Protocol
technology	O
from	O
Integrity	O
Sciences	O
,	O
or	O
the	O
browser	O
technology	O
from	O
Ravisent	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
PC	B-Operating_System
BIOS	I-Operating_System
business	O
continued	O
its	O
steady	O
,	O
but	O
slow	O
,	O
growth	O
despite	O
a	O
rapidly	O
declining	O
unit	O
price	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Award	O
product	O
line	O
was	O
focused	O
on	O
the	O
low-margin	O
,	O
high	O
volume	O
Desktop	O
product	O
line	O
,	O
while	O
the	O
Phoenix	O
TrustedCore	O
BIOS	B-Operating_System
was	O
primarily	O
successful	O
in	O
the	O
high-end	O
PC	O
systems	O
,	O
and	O
Servers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
revenues	O
from	O
the	O
BIOS	B-Operating_System
business	O
continued	O
to	O
provide	O
the	O
capital	O
to	O
invest	O
further	O
in	O
the	O
applications	O
business	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
late	O
2005	O
,	O
it	O
became	O
clear	O
that	O
the	O
BIOS	B-Operating_System
revenues	O
could	O
not	O
sustain	O
the	O
losses	O
incurred	O
by	O
the	O
applications	O
business	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
BIOS	B-Operating_System
revenue	O
stream	O
was	O
heavily	O
leveraged	O
through	O
fully	O
paid-up	O
licenses	O
,	O
and	O
by	O
early	O
2006	O
this	O
business	O
model	O
was	O
no	O
longer	O
sustainable	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
late	O
2006	O
,	O
after	O
senior	O
management	O
changes	O
,	O
the	O
company	O
refocused	O
on	O
the	O
PC	B-Operating_System
BIOS	I-Operating_System
business	O
and	O
the	O
couple	O
of	O
potentially	O
profitable	O
applications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
September	O
,	O
Phoenix	O
acquired	O
General	O
Software	O
of	O
Bellevue	O
,	O
WA	O
,	O
to	O
extend	O
its	O
firmware	O
leadership	O
to	O
a	O
wide	O
array	O
of	O
specialized	O
high-value	O
,	O
high-margin	O
devices	O
that	O
use	O
embedded	B-Architecture
processors	I-Architecture
(	O
embedded	B-Architecture
systems	I-Architecture
)	O
,	O
from	O
mobile	O
and	O
consumer	O
electronics	O
to	O
data	O
communications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2009	O
,	O
Phoenix	O
shut	O
down	O
their	O
Engineering	O
and	O
Sales	O
offices	O
in	O
Shanghai	B-Device
and	O
Nanjing	O
,	O
China	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
January	O
5	O
,	O
2010	O
,	O
Phoenix	O
announced	O
it	O
had	O
hired	O
GrowthPoint	O
Technology	O
partners	O
to	O
find	O
alternative	O
business	O
strategies	O
for	O
the	O
FailSafe	O
,	O
HyperSpace	O
and	O
eSupport.com	O
products	O
and	O
would	O
aim	O
to	O
refocus	O
its	O
business	O
strategy	O
on	O
BIOS	B-Operating_System
where	O
it	O
still	O
retained	O
a	O
substantial	O
majority	O
of	O
its	O
revenue	O
.	O
</s>
