Wow I can't believe this is true. A graphics chipset company is merging with a CPU company. I do not know the initial thinking behind such a merger but it sure does blow my mind. We had 2 major CPU producers and 2 major GPU producers. I guess in some ways you'll still have that but it's now Intel vs ATI/AMD and Nvidia vs AMD/ATI. I also find it interesting that AMD had to take a loan out of the bank because they did'nt have enough cash to purchase ATI. The merger still has to be agreed upon by shareholders but all signs point to the merger being a success. Here is an article written on http://www.bit-tech.net about the story.
Actually there will still be two video card companies going head to head while there will still be two CPU companies going head to head, I don't think that will change. What will change is the kind of technologies ATI and AMD will be able to develope if they can unify their chipets and technologies to do things Intel CPU's simply can not do.
Here is an article hot off the press detailing the merger giving scenarios and what all this mumbo jumbo means http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...t_for_4/1.html
A particular alarming scenario states
If that really olds up we could be in the midst of a mess.
Earlier this morning, AMD and ATI announced plans to join forces in a deal worth $5.4 billion.
Rumours have been rife for a long time now and a number of reliable sources indicated that the deal had been done on Friday.
AMD believes that the combination will create a "processing powerhouse", by combining the two company's strengths to create a formidable platform during 2007.
AMD Chairman and CEO Hector Ruiz said that "ATI shares our passion and complements our strengths: technology leadership and consumer centric innovation.
"Bringing these two great companies together will allow us to transcend what we have accomplished as individual businesses and reinvent our industry as the technology leader and partner of choice. We believe AMD and ATI will drive growth and innovation for the entire industry, enabling our partners to create differentiated solutions and empowering our customers to choose what is best for them."
ATI's President and CEO Dave Orton continued by saying that "This combination means accelerated growth for ATI, and broader horizons for our employees. All of our product lines will benefit. Joining with AMD will enable us to innovate aggressively on the PC platform, and continue to invest significantly in our consumer business to stay in front of our markets."
The deal was unanimously approved by the board of directors at both AMD and ATI and is subject to approval from ATI's share holders. In order to complete the $5.4 billion deal - which combines $4.2 billion in cash and $57M in AMD shares - AMD has obtained a $2.5 billion loan from Morgan Stanley making The Inquirer's beliefs true - AMD didn't have enough money in the bank to buy ATI without some help.
Rumours have been rife for a long time now and a number of reliable sources indicated that the deal had been done on Friday.
AMD believes that the combination will create a "processing powerhouse", by combining the two company's strengths to create a formidable platform during 2007.
AMD Chairman and CEO Hector Ruiz said that "ATI shares our passion and complements our strengths: technology leadership and consumer centric innovation.
"Bringing these two great companies together will allow us to transcend what we have accomplished as individual businesses and reinvent our industry as the technology leader and partner of choice. We believe AMD and ATI will drive growth and innovation for the entire industry, enabling our partners to create differentiated solutions and empowering our customers to choose what is best for them."
ATI's President and CEO Dave Orton continued by saying that "This combination means accelerated growth for ATI, and broader horizons for our employees. All of our product lines will benefit. Joining with AMD will enable us to innovate aggressively on the PC platform, and continue to invest significantly in our consumer business to stay in front of our markets."
The deal was unanimously approved by the board of directors at both AMD and ATI and is subject to approval from ATI's share holders. In order to complete the $5.4 billion deal - which combines $4.2 billion in cash and $57M in AMD shares - AMD has obtained a $2.5 billion loan from Morgan Stanley making The Inquirer's beliefs true - AMD didn't have enough money in the bank to buy ATI without some help.
Here is an article hot off the press detailing the merger giving scenarios and what all this mumbo jumbo means http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...t_for_4/1.html
A particular alarming scenario states
"Less consumer choice: We currently have a situation where components from any of the four big players can be mixed and matched. Intel has already revoked ATI's license for its bus technology, and expect further similar moves from all players. We could see a situation where NVIDIA stops interacting with AMD, Intel stops interacting with ATI and the whole thing gets more awkward and incompatible"
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