AMD and ATI has managed to create a minor circus the last month or so. The first rumors about AMD acquiring ATI arrived last month in an article at Forbes. The reactions were pretty strong, but above all critic and against. According to TheInquirer AMD and ATI will on Monday ask for the stockholders’ permissino for a merger. There are things that speak for a possible merger between the graphics giant and our second processor manufacturer, but at the same time even more that speaks against.
AMD has never liked side projects, the cut of Geode was a sign of that if anything, while it at the same time doesn’t erallymanfuacture anything else but procesors and ATI would clash with all that.
The companies also have some crooked relations. ATI has a contract with Intel about supplying its budget-platforms with chipsets and debates whether this is the reason NVIDIA has been hidnered (read SLI) in its relations with Intel has been going on, while AMD on the otherhand is very much dependent on NVIDIA and its chipsets.
Update: It seems AMD’s board of directors have approved of an acquisition and that the bid will be $5.6 billion. Right now a merger seems actually more than likely.
