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It's a sign of how vulnerable Microsoft is feeling. If Nvidia were purchased by Apple (or even HP, say) then Microsoft might suddenly find itself trying to comp
by podperson 15y ago
It's a sign of how vulnerable Microsoft is feeling. If Nvidia were purchased by Apple (or even HP, say) then Microsoft might suddenly find itself trying to compete in the mobile market without access to a credible hardware stack.
- nettdata 15y agoNot at all. The article says the agreement is over 10 years old, and to me seems to have been a smart move on Microsoft's part. Basically, they recognized that they were very reliant on NVidia's technology, and while buying from NVidia is cheaper than making it themselves, they mitigated risk of losing that option by giving them the chance to pony up to keep any other company, competitor or not, from changing things.
- astrodust 15y agoWould be clever if they could fight off the PS4 using this sort of angle. Too bad that the video hardware industry would collapse to just AMD though.
- recoiledsnake 15y agoBy mobile, do you mean Win 8 tablets? AMD is claiming their solution will be the fastest x86 Win 8 on a tablet, and Nvidia has nothing to do right now with WP7 devices. The deal had to do with the original XBox. Nvidia was doing less well at that time catering to enthusiasts and thus if taken over, would pose a big danger to the XBox with all the graphics IP possibly lost to a competitor like Sony and MS having to basically start over again.
- melvinram 15y agoI wouldn't call it vulnerability as it seems like a sensible requirement to place on the manufacturer of a critical component to a business you are going to sink millions into. They likely made it part of the original negotiations.
- sahaj 15y agoTwo questions come to my mind: Is this agreement still valid? And would either MSFT and/or NVDA live up to it in case of a NVDA buyout in the future?