CNET.com vertelt ons in dit nieuwsbericht dat AMD zijn communicatiedivisie verkocht heeft aan Francisco Partners voor $375 miljoen. De afdeling maakte IC's voor in modems en producten voor DSL-providers. De groep draaide vorig jaar nog een omzet van $168 miljoen; AMD stoot het dan ook niet af vanwege verliesgevendheid, maar omdat zij zich willen concentreren op de processor- en flashmarkt:
AMD's core businesses--PC processors and flash memory chips--are "resource intensive," according to the spokesman, and put AMD up against an "800-pound gorilla--Intel."
"Although communications is rapidly growing, we didn't feel we could compete in a third market area that required a devotion of resources," he said. "We didn't think fighting a three-front war was promising for us."[break]De verkoop is ook ontstaan onder druk van Intel:[/break]As prices and profit margins have sunk in the traditional chip business, Intel has sought to expand beyond its core PC semiconductor base. Intel has been aggressively expanding into markets for communications chips, small "appliance" servers and personal Internet devices.
Analysts have pegged growth in the communications chip market at 25 percent annually. In comparison, the market for PC chips is expected to grow 15 percent this year.
Intel during the past year has acquired communications companies such as Basis Communications, Ambient Technologies, and Thinkit Technologies. It also has made numerous strategic investments through its venture capital arm.
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