Transmeta sells processor line

Transmeta has reached an agreement with Culturecom Technology of China for the sale of the chip maker's outdated Crusoe processor line.

The Chinese company has also purchased a licence for Transmeta's 130nm Efficeon technology. The combined transactions are expected to result in a $15m cash payment, as well as royalty payments for sales of Crusoe and Efficeon products.

Transmeta expects the transaction to be completed by December 2005, pending regulatory approval from the US Department of Commerce.

Earlier this year, Transmeta underwent a strategy change. Instead of developing and manufacturing its own chips, the company shifted its attention to licensing its LongRun2 power-saving technology.

As a result, it axed its Crusoe and 130nm Efficeon processor lines. It will keep making a 90nm version, but has raised prices and stiffened terms.

Transmeta entered the processor market in 2000, promising to bring low-power processors to desktop and portable computers. The company struggled to deliver its products and has never been profitable.

Culturecom is a technology company based in Hong Kong. The vendor previously used Transmeta technology in its line of all-Chinese processors for use in embedded devices such as point-of-sale terminals and set-top boxes.