The Technology Beat

AMD (Advanced Micro Devices [NYSE: AMD]) acquired ATI Inc. (NASDAQ ATYT) this summer for an estimated $5.4 billion. The acquisition spawned many heated arguments on the internet discussing what would become of the products, in particular ATI’s graphics chips, during and after the move. Questions similarly followed intrigued if the combination of the two leaders in their fields would cause rivals Intel and Nvidia to similarly combine forces to compete. The markets have settled, the acquisition has gone through successfully, and the results are ultimately akin to the pre-acquisition era. Rivals Intel and Nvidia still maintain roughly their previous market share, and competition between the graphics and computer processor companies remain as fierce, and as close, as before. Rumors that circulated following the acquisition about an Intel and Nvidia merger have been proven to be nothing more than rumors, although for some time before the AMD acquisition of ATI, rumors had been circulating about such a prospect. As always, when large technologies are concerned, insiders have been prone to leak information regarding major moves, one must only be concerned about sifting the real information from those that are foundationless.