Czech company PlasmaSolve has been acquired by Apple, likely for its software that helps optimize manufacturing of scratch-resistant metallic coatings.
Apple already uses PVD (physical vapor deposition) in its existing coating processes for devices, but it is aiming to refine and develop this through acquiring PlasmaSolve. PlasmaSolve was founded in 2016 by Adam Obrusnik, and makes a simulation software package called MatSight.
MatSight models PVD and PECVD (plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition) to improve process designs.
"PlasmaSolve is a team of subject matter experts in plasma-powered technologies and materials science," says the company's main website. "Our mission is to create reliable and faithful digital twin models for these cutting-edge technologies."
"We achieve this by synergizing physics simulation, chemistry simulation, machine learning, data mining, and material characterization," it continues.
That main site is chiefly an About page plus a record of the many European Union grants the company has received. PlasmaSolve used to maintain a separate site for its MatSight software, but that has been taken down.
This suggests that it is MatSight that Apple is interested in, or at least the team that developed the simulator software. It's reportedly a small team, between 2 and 10 people, based in Brno in the Czech Republic.
What PlasmaSolve's software does
It's not known how many companies bought the software prior to the acquisition. PlasmaSolve has said that Kolzer, Von Ardenne, and the Danish Technological Institute were among its early adopters.
They will each have been using MatSight to improve their PVD process. Instead of applying a coating to a surface, PVD involves vaporizing a material that then condenses onto the surface.
It means that the material, such as a metal chassis frame, gets an evenly-applied and very thin, but scratch-resistant layer.
According to the EU's record of significant Acquisitions, Apple bought PlasmaSolve through a subsidiary in April 2026. Companies are required to report to the EU acquisitions that are large or expected to have some impact on the territory.
Apple routinely acquires firms and tends to only report the acquisitions when required to by regulators. Most recently, its focus appears to have been on buying firms developing AI technology.
