AMD & ATI: The Acquisition from all Points of View

Intel’s Position: The Silent Treatment

Of all the manufacturers we talked to, Intel was the least forthcoming with information.  At the same time, Intel was the least impacted by the AMD/ATI announcement.  Intel already has a thriving chipset and motherboard business, not to mention that Intel is currently the largest supplier of graphics for PCs.  Intel is, at least publicly, taking the "we'll have to wait and see" stance to the acquisition, stating numerous times that the deal is not final and that anything could happen between now and then. 

Intel also stated that nothing has changed yet and for one, ATI's bus license has definitely not been revoked.  Intel also made it clear to state that its relationship with AMD/ATI/NVIDIA could change before the deal goes through, just not immediately.  Believe it or not, that's all we got out of Intel.

Understanding the corporate mindset and recognizing that Intel is the 800 pound gorilla in this discussion, its perspective isn't all too surprising.  Intel has the fastest current desktop CPU and sells a ton of chipsets, GPUs (if you count the integrated stuff as a GPU), CPUs, and motherboards.  In many ways, this merger is a lot about AMD trying to compete with Intel.  Despite the lack of outgoing information, you can be sure that the impact of this merger is being discussed in great detail within Intel, and as always it is going to try to plan out its best future course.  Intel’s "no comment" stance is what one would expect from a huge corporation when asked about the activities of its chief competitor.