According to Forbes.com, Apple has acquired fabless semiconductor company PA Semi for US$278 million in cash according to a source close to the story.

The company, which designs energy efficient processors based on the Power series which Apple used in its computers prior to transitioning to Intel's x86 architecture, creates low-power processors that can be used in mobile products.

Such a purchase could provide some hints as to Apple's future product plans.

"The most likely product for Apple would be an ultra-mobile PC," said Alan Brown, research director of Gartner analysts.

Brown then added that the chips weren't likely to be used in a future version of the iPhone, where the ARM processor currently holds a strong position and power consumption would prove to be a challenge.

Albeit Apple has been able to see improvements in the heat dissipation of its products thanks to the use of Intel chips, the acquisition of PA Semi introduces new questions into this relationship. According to Brown, Apple seems to be planning to use an alternative processor which would allow for greater differentiation in the mobile market.

"Apple must have seen something in PA Semi it can't get from Intel, or it's cheaper for Apple to own the intellectual property," he said.

PA Semi licenses the Power instruction set from IBM, so its chips are software compatible with the PowerPC chips Apple used.

The company's dual-core PWRficient chip, launched last year, can deliver three to four times the performance of existing chips for the same energy consumption, per PA Semi's claims regarding its own product. The processor is intended for use in embedded systems such as networking and storage devices, or telecommunications infrastructure.

Apple representatives in Europe could not be immediately reached for comment and a spokesman for Bessemer Venture Partners, one of a group of U.S. investment funds which PA Semi lists among its owners, also declined to comment.

It's guess work at this point as to what this deal means, but if anyone has any ideas, feel free to share them in the comments or forums.