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When Titans Join Forces: Implications of the AMD-ATI Merger

By Vijay Anand - 24 Sep 2006

The Lead Up to the Merger

The Lead Up to the Merger

Just half a year back, the notion of AMD buying over ATI was simply nothing more than part of the IT rumor mill and many never saw the possibility. After all, both corporations have a completely different focus group and never had an overlap in lineup. By Computex 2006, the rumors escalated, but yet there were no hints from either party. Then on 24th July 2006, AMD and ATI globally announced plans to unite in a transaction valued at approximately US$5.4 billion.

Many of you would have heard about this industry-shaking merger that has numerous implications not only for the entire IT industry, but for the consumers as well. Hardware Zone managed to catch up with Bryan Low, the Vice President for Sales and Marketing in South Asia at AMD to answer our queries of the merger, the current status of operations for both companies and upcoming plans. Bryan is responsible for developing and overseeing the marketing and sales strategies and activities for AMD in ASEAN, Australia and New Zealand.

Bryan Low, Vice President for Sales and Marketing in South Asia at AMD managed to find time off his busy schedule to answer some of our burning questions of the AMD-ATI merger.

HWZ: The AMD-ATI merger deal was a huge move and a real shaker in the IT industry. How did such an industry changing deal come about so subtly that it was dismissed as nothing but a rumor for several months?

Bryan Low: As you know, company acquisition discussions take a while to negotiate and such discussions are highly confidential to protect business interests. There would be no point making any announcements until it was confirmed. Otherwise it would have been pure conjecture.

 

HWZ: What are the forces that lead to the AMD-ATI merger? Would you be able to chronicle the events that led to this deal?

Low: This transaction is born of a mutual recognition that by combining our efforts, we can be a leading processing powerhouse. And fundamentally, this is about growth, innovation and choice. We believe the marriage of AMD's and ATI's best-in-class computing, graphics, digital media and processing technologies will result in more innovative and more complete customer-focused solutions.

AMD and ATI complement each other's strengths across technologies, markets, manufacturing and geographies. Our collective roster of strong customer relationships represents a who's who in the computing and consumer electronics industries.

We believe our common heritage of competition, innovation and customer focus will empower us to innovate beyond existing boundaries and deliver more integrated, open standards-based solutions and create customer-centric platforms and solutions. We will create technology centers of excellence worldwide. This is a transaction of growth - for our employees, our customers, our partners, and the industry.

We started discussions some months back and just finalized the details a month ago. We are presently going through the approval process with the relevant authorities and hope to complete the acquisition by the end of the year.

AMD and ATI unite to create a processing powerhouse by bringing the former's technology leadership in microprocessors together with ATI's strengths in graphics, chipsets and consumer electronics.

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