Who is the BIOS manufacturer of my computer?

[jaffa]

I have a computer from Dell and went into the BIOS today. I got confused when it said Dell BIOS version A01. I did not know that Dell had their own BIOS (particularly since they buy the mobos from Intel etc.). Therefore I ran a system check, which said that Phoenix was the real manufacturer of my computer's BIOS. Now I wonder how all this come together.

How has Dell's name ended up in a Phoenix BIOS?
Has Dell licensed the BIOS from Phoenix or maybe paid them to develop a BIOS specifically for Dell computers?
If so how can BIOS updates be available from Dells web page when needed (assuming that Phoenix has done all the programming Dell should not deal with the BIOS upgrades themselves, should they)?
Can it be that Phoenix also deals with the updates and then sell them to Dell who then put them on the web for download as their own product)?

If anyone knows about this "intriguing" (at least in my opinion) issue I would appreciate some info.

 

[ahurtt]

Phoenix made your BIOS, and Dell licenses it from them. It's called outsourcing. Dell probably has a contract with them. Dell just sticks their logo on the BIOS screen to brand it "Dell." Phoenix will not deal directly with the public customers. Dell does that. Just like if you buy an nVidia graphics card and you need support, usually you have to go to the maker of the card (Asus, or BFG for example), not the chipset maker (nVidia). If updates ever need to be done to BIOS for a Dell system, Phoenix will do it most likely and then Dell will distribute the ROM with their own branding.

 

[Peter]

Phoenix, AMI or whoever supplies the BIOS core work, and in cooperation with the CPU and chipset makers, the code needed to fire those up. Board manufacturers license this, and port the code to match their particular hardware design. This then is what ships on the product. And it's up to the board manufacturer to maintain and release BIOS updates as well.
Board makers can also contract Phoenix or AMI to do all the work, but you get the product out the door much quicker if you're doing the porting yourself.