Phoenix Technologies

34°08′36.3″N 118°08′27.4″W / 34.143417°N 118.140944°W / 34.143417; -118.140944 Phoenix Technologies Ltd. is an American company that designed, developed, and supports core system software for personal computers and other computing devices. The company's products – commonly referred to as BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) or firmware – support and enable the compatibility, connectivity, security and management of the various components and technologies used in such devices. Phoenix Technologies and IBM developed the El Torito standard. Phoenix was incorporated in Massachusetts in September 1979, and its headquarters are in Campbell, California. On April 27, 2026, Phoenix sold its firmware (BIOS) technology business to Lenovo, but will continue to contract with and support its other firmware customers with no change. In 1979, Neil Colvin formed what was then called Phoenix Software Associates after his prior employer, Xitan, went out of business. Neil hired Dave Hirschman, a former Xitan employee. During 1980–1981, they rented office space for the first official Phoenix location at 151 Franklin Street, Boston, Massachusetts. In this same time period Phoenix purchased a non-exclusive license for Seattle Computer Products 86-DOS. Phoenix developed customized versions of 86-DOS (or sometimes called PDOS for Phoenix DOS) for various microprocessor platforms.