4 ms·

How about Apple buying Via?

by tromp 8y ago

AmericanChopper 8y ago
Apple actually has enough cash to buy Intel. Or AMD 10 times.
- tormeh 8y ago
  AMD's licenses from Intel have some strings attached. I think they basically cannot be bought while keeping the rights to x86. A bought AMD could possibly threaten to no longer grant licenses to Intel, but I'm sure Intel's lawyers have thought of that. Apple buying Intel could work, I guess (anti-trust might get involved), but I don't think it would be a wise investment. Apple doesn't have the volume to keep Intel busy alone.
  - AmericanChopper 8y ago
    I don't think they'd do it either, or that they'd even need to. I just think it's kinda funny that Apple has enough cash to outright buy both Intel and AMD.
  - scotty79 8y ago
    Apple could buy Intel for the tech, AMD just to close it. Then stop selling CPUs or licences altogether. Just ramp up selling Mac's. Then PC dies. :)
    - danmaz74 8y ago
      That's exactly the reason why anti-trust regulations exit.
      - scotty79 8y ago
        Yup. It's not something that could realistically happen. But in truly free market it could.
        InitialLastName 8y ago
        If only! Think, if we lived in a genuine free market, what glories we could see. All hail the monocorp.
        scotty79 8y ago
        I'm always amused how true "free market" apologists argue that: a) monopolies don't arise b) are good
  - rasz 8y ago
    Apple doesnt need x86, almost nobody needs it anymore. Buy AMD, keep AMD64, throw away 32bit.
tadah 8y ago
That would be the way to go, but why invest in x86 at the time where it mattered the least to Apple's bottom line? ARM is the way to go.
- tfha 8y ago
  Is there a reason RISC V is off the table?
  - mrweasel 8y ago
    As for right now, speed and features. Apple is already pretty invested in ARM and have the in-house experts. Managing and developing two processor architectures in parallel is a massive duplication of effort, just to avoid paying ARM a licens, a licens that Apple can easily afford. In the long run, no there's no reason why Apple couldn't use RISC V in place of ARM, but not without a large upfront cost.
jsjohnst 8y ago
Not possible from my understanding. The only reason Via has an x86 license is due to a successful settlement (forgot details of the case) with Intel in 2003[0] after acquiring assets from National Semiconductor and under the terms of the settlement got a 10yr license. That got extended to 15yrs and is due to expire this year last I heard. Licenses to the x86 ISA can’t be bought or transferred via acquisition. Re: the other question someone asked about patent expiration, a patent expired version of the ISA is pretty worthless. Each new iteration gets new patents. Update: [0] - a source for Via lawsuit: https://www.cnet.com/news/intel-via-bury-the-hatchet/ https://www.cnet.com/news/intel-via-bury-the-hatchet/

How about Apple buying Via?

by tromp 8y ago

How about Apple buying Via?

AmericanChopper 8y ago

Apple actually has enough cash to buy Intel. Or AMD 10 times.

tormeh 8y ago
AMD's licenses from Intel have some strings attached. I think they basically cannot be bought while keeping the rights to x86. A bought AMD could possibly threaten to no longer grant licenses to Intel, but I'm sure Intel's lawyers have thought of that. Apple buying Intel could work, I guess (anti-trust might get involved), but I don't think it would be a wise investment. Apple doesn't have the volume to keep Intel busy alone.
- AmericanChopper 8y ago
  I don't think they'd do it either, or that they'd even need to. I just think it's kinda funny that Apple has enough cash to outright buy both Intel and AMD.
- scotty79 8y ago
  Apple could buy Intel for the tech, AMD just to close it. Then stop selling CPUs or licences altogether. Just ramp up selling Mac's. Then PC dies. :)
  - danmaz74 8y ago
    That's exactly the reason why anti-trust regulations exit.
    - scotty79 8y ago
      Yup. It's not something that could realistically happen. But in truly free market it could.
      - InitialLastName 8y ago
        If only! Think, if we lived in a genuine free market, what glories we could see. All hail the monocorp.
        scotty79 8y ago
        I'm always amused how true "free market" apologists argue that: a) monopolies don't arise b) are good
- rasz 8y ago
  Apple doesnt need x86, almost nobody needs it anymore. Buy AMD, keep AMD64, throw away 32bit.

tadah 8y ago

That would be the way to go, but why invest in x86 at the time where it mattered the least to Apple's bottom line? ARM is the way to go.

tfha 8y ago
Is there a reason RISC V is off the table?
- mrweasel 8y ago
  As for right now, speed and features. Apple is already pretty invested in ARM and have the in-house experts. Managing and developing two processor architectures in parallel is a massive duplication of effort, just to avoid paying ARM a licens, a licens that Apple can easily afford. In the long run, no there's no reason why Apple couldn't use RISC V in place of ARM, but not without a large upfront cost.

jsjohnst 8y ago

Not possible from my understanding. The only reason Via has an x86 license is due to a successful settlement (forgot details of the case) with Intel in 2003[0] after acquiring assets from National Semiconductor and under the terms of the settlement got a 10yr license. That got extended to 15yrs and is due to expire this year last I heard. Licenses to the x86 ISA can’t be bought or transferred via acquisition. Re: the other question someone asked about patent expiration, a patent expired version of the ISA is pretty worthless. Each new iteration gets new patents. Update: [0] - a source for Via lawsuit: https://www.cnet.com/news/intel-via-bury-the-hatchet/ https://www.cnet.com/news/intel-via-bury-the-hatchet/