AMD currently discussing breakup, spinoff, or split-up of the company (separation of divisions)

[Misanthrope]

So wait, we could end up in a situation with Intel ATI vs. Nvidia in the graphics card industry?

 

That would be interesting to see.

 

[Valentyn]

Xenon Phi

 

Compute cards are not graphics cards.

[Dabombinable]

Intel has the knowledge, funding and IP to make a very good one that's for sure. Just compare the size of the iris Pro iGPU to that of the GTX 750, then look at how close the performance is..... (plus Intel iGPU support OpenCL already)

[Bsmith]

they should sell the GPU part to intel and the CPU part to Nvidia, that would lead up in a very interesting battle, since Intel will be forced to do something about their "take it easy" CPU tactics and Nvidia get's a fire under it's ass of a limitless opponent when it comes to money.

[Swndlr]

Love how everyone bashes the shit out of them then this happens and all of the sudden theyre begging for AMD to stay alive....

[Valentyn]

they should sell the GPU part to intel and the CPU part to Nvidia, that would lead up in a very interesting battle, since Intel will be forced to do something about their "take it easy" CPU tactics and Nvidia get's a fire under it's ass of a limitless opponent when it comes to money.

 

Due to the licensing of the X86 tech from Intel, any sale of AMD means those agreements become null and void. So if NVIDIA bought them, they lose the rights to make X86 processors.

[Bsmith]

Due to the licensing of the X86 tech from Intel, any sale of AMD means those agreements become null and void. So if NVIDIA bought them, they lose the rights to make X86 processors.

 

damnit!

[Biggerisbetter]

AMD will not sell off or divide its most profitable assets. The sever side of AMD is what dragging the company down. Also the FTC will not allow intel to pick up AMD gpu business, because it can be seen as anti competitive. Nvida would sue just to stop that from happening. Apple nor Samsung are interested in AMD gpu, simple because its a niche market. If i had to ponder a guess at what might happen. ARM is more likely a acquire AMD sever business. ARM really want to enter the sever business.  

[Misanthrope]

Compute cards are not graphics cards.

 

This isn't a compute card:

 

http://www.pcauthority.com.au/News/402249,intel-announces-knights-landing-gpu.aspx

[othertomperson]

Due to the licensing of the X86 tech from Intel, any sale of AMD means those agreements become null and void. So if NVIDIA bought them, they lose the rights to make X86 processors.

 

Thinking long term, that's going to be less important anyway. With Valve's push to diversify gaming across multiple OSes, and OpenGL/Vulcan being completely cross platform eventually it's not going to be vital to stick to x86 for a gaming PC (or any PC, really). Given how unimportant CPU performance is relative to GPU performance I don't think it's far fetched to imagine a future in which a desktop Tegra CPU (or other performance ARM) exists and makes sense for a gaming desktop.

 

 

This isn't a compute card:

 

http://www.pcauthority.com.au/News/402249,intel-announces-knights-landing-gpu.aspx

 

Look at the date of that article...

[Valentyn]

 

Thinking long term, that's going to be less important anyway. With Valve's push to diversify gaming across multiple OSes, and OpenGL/Vulcan being completely cross platform eventually it's not going to be vital to stick to x86 for a gaming PC (or any PC, really). Given how unimportant CPU performance is relative to GPU performance I don't think it's far fetched to imagine a future in which a desktop Tegra CPU (or other performance ARM) exists and makes sense for a gaming desktop.

 

You're forgetting Operating system support, and application support. The world isn't run by games and CPU performance is still vital in the majority of cases.

I welcome a world with ARM and x86 being on parity, but it's decades away at best and might not ever happen. It will require support from every major player in the world, NVIDIA alone can never manage that, and they'll need to get MS to 100% back them on their operating systems, and enterprise solutions before it can even begin to go in that direction.

[Admire]

That is a very nice source btw:p Nice to see something from Reuters instead of wccf

[othertomperson]

You're forgetting Operating system support, and application support. The world isn't run by games and CPU performance is still vital in the majority of cases.

I welcome a world with ARM and x86 being on parity, but it's decades away at best and might not ever happen. It will require support from every major player in the world, NVIDIA alone can never manage that, and they'll need to get MS to 100% back them on their operating systems, and enterprise solutions before it can even begin to go in that direction.

 

No I'm not. I'm just looking at Linux, like a more powerful Raspberry Pi, or possibly Android though it's not really built for this interface. You could already use a Raspberry Pi 2 for most office productivity and web browsing purposes. Sure there are specific applications now that people need that aren't supported, but we're already at the point where most things that people actually use a PC for can be done on a phone or other ARM device if you use a Bluetooth mouse, keyboard and monitor.

 

I don't see this diminishing over time, I see it growing. I think that AMD's drive for GPU Compute performance to be better utilised across PC use, not just its current niche, will help drive us to a future in which we just don't need that much CPU performance but for a relative few specific cases. I don't think the performance CPU is going to die, but I think for most home users right now a Tegra is more than enough, let alone going forward.

[Jasmin]

As mentioned several times in this topic, do bear in mind that the most likely split is into corporate services (profitable) and the consumer services (not so much). I don't think splitting further into cpu and gpu is feasiable when there is such a strong push towards single chip market. While gpu (ati) could get temporary boost out of this (that is if the rumors that the 200 series was sold close.to a loss are untrue) the cpu division would die off, unless they suddenly would get enough rnd funds to compete with intel i5/i7s

[alphaproject]

ATI - GPU.... AMD - CPU... back to how it was before things got WONKY.

 

Now who could step in to cover the split....???  Who knows.

 

I'd like them to unfocus on the APU but that covers a lot of laptops for basic use. Can't really ditch that.

 

Just like Intel though, no gamers really rely on APU's/IGPU for gaming. They just put out a possible AIO solution in case you need a NEW GPU or yours broke down and needs replacing...basically the same scenario.

[Icecube26]

amd might split .... but not this year... probably  next year if zen fails.... it would be better that way....so amd could focus only on cpus..... and the gpu division only on gpus....

[marldorthegreat]

This doesn't surprise me at all. AMD are a company on the brink of going under and they need to quickly do something to turn it around. If they don't do anything then they could easily go bust by 2020. Whether AMD go bust and get purchased in segments or AMD split themselves up to generate revenue, they do need to split the CPU and GPU divisions into two companies as they will never fully compete with Intel and NVidia until they get a much higher level of financial resources.

They are still a massive company. MAking over 1 billion dollars. They are not "on the brink" 

[patrickjp93]

Due to the licensing of the X86 tech from Intel, any sale of AMD means those agreements become null and void. So if NVIDIA bought them, they lose the rights to make X86 processors.

Intel would also lose x86_64 in the same swing. What's it going to do, convert everyone to Itanium 2.0? They'll renegotiate the cross-license.

[patrickjp93]

They are still a massive company. MAking over 1 billion dollars. They are not "on the brink"

The structure of their debt and lots of financial analysis says they are. They make 1 billion in revenue each year. They haven't been profitable in almost a decade.

[patrickjp93]

AMD will not sell off or divide its most profitable assets. The sever side of AMD is what dragging the company down. Also the FTC will not allow intel to pick up AMD gpu business, because it can be seen as anti competitive. Nvida would sue just to stop that from happening. Apple nor Samsung are interested in AMD gpu, simple because its a niche market. If i had to ponder a guess at what might happen. ARM is more likely a acquire AMD sever business. ARM really want to enter the sever business.

Intel picking it up is not anticompetitive. They don't have a dGPU business at all, 0 market presence. Nvidia couldn't do anything to stop it, just as Intel couldn't stop Nvidia from picking up AMD's CPU division.

[patrickjp93]

This isn't a compute card:

http://www.pcauthority.com.au/News/402249,intel-announces-knights-landing-gpu.aspx

That article has a number of errors. KNL starts at 60 cores and goes up to 72. It can go from 6Teraflops upward, not petaflops.

[Valentyn]

Intel would also lose x86_64 in the same swing. What's it going to do, convert everyone to Itanium 2.0? They'll renegotiate the cross-license.

 

We could only hope for pure I64!  

[Deli]

I'm afraid some China companies with the backing of the central government will buy the division if AMD decides to spin something off. 

[patrickjp93]

I'm afraid some China companies with the backing of the central government will buy the division if AMD decides to spin something off. 

The FTC would never allow it. We're not at risk of that.

[Doobeedoo]

Would've sucked if they don't produce both CPUs and GPUs in future.

Their upcoming products for next year really need to be good, hope they shine so there's no split or acquisition later on. They really need money for RnD to keep it up. Doubt they'll do anything until they see how their upcoming products do on the market next year.