The Tech Report schrijft naar aanleiding van een press release van S3, waarin staat dat S3 in gesprek is met verschillende bedrijven over de overname van hun graphics divisie, dat nVidia het wel eens kon gaan worden. S3 schijnt nogal wat interessante patenten te bezitten.
Another possible suitor is NVIDIA, who might be looking to get a hold of S3's graphics patents, designs, and engineering teams. Now here is something interesting. The two companies signed a broad cross-licensing deal not long ago, and NVIDIA moved to sell $400 million worth of stock today.Note this bit of info from the NVIDIA press release: NVIDIA will use the proceeds of future sales of debt or common stock under the first registration statement to fund anticipated growth, including anticipated increases in inventory and accounts receivable; for potential acquisitions; [emphasis mine] for costs associated with NVIDIA's expected move to new facilities; and for general working capital. NVIDIA will not receive any proceeds from the sale of common stock by the selling stockholders.
Coincidence? Perhaps, but NVIDIA was sweet on S3's patent portfolio at the time they signed their cross-licensing deal. NVIDIA president and CEO Jen-Hsun Huang said at the time: Over the years, S3 has developed and acquired a rich portfolio of technologies in graphics, multimedia, microprocessors and system logic. Our license agreements with SGI and S3, combined with NVIDIA's rich technology patent portfolio, gives us a strong technology base on which to build winning products.
Thanks edward voor de link.
