250°

Analyst: Apple Could Be Weighing AMD Acquisition

Rumors and leaks are a regular feature of Apple-watching, and there's usually some substance behind a fair number of them. One currently making the rounds is that Apple could be ditching Intel in favor of AMD processors. Analyst Rob Enderle took the supposing one step further, suggesting that Apple might even be considering acquisition of AMD in order bolster its ability to make its own processors in-house.

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ecommercetimes.com
darthv725138d ago

thinking back in the day, apple used ati graphics in almost all their macs. Ati gets aquired by AMD and now apple would not only get amd chips but also back with ati graphics.

Apple could get amd to refine the cpu for the os and amd can get apple to refine the os for the cpu.

Noctis Aftermath5138d ago

I would much rather they didn't, they will probably raise the prices across the board on all AMD and ATI products.

Lich1205137d ago

As an advocate of ATI graphics cards (AMD processors to a lesser extent) and someone who thinks apple products are silly I really don't want to see this happen.

I don't care if apple uses ATI's products, but buying them out is a whole different story. I mean, who wouldn't want a iRadeon? Now with twice the cost and no DirectX support!

darkmurder5137d ago

Great so your going to turn a bang for your buck product into an overpriced gimmicky 'cool' product assuming this happens. Yeah no thanks...

IdleLeeSiuLung5137d ago

This would be really bad. Intel's only CPU competitor going to a company that thrives on making their product trendy and over priced. Nothing wrong with that, but just don't pollute the cpu market.

crck5137d ago

I welcome the acquisition but only because I have AMD stock. However I would definitely stop buying AMD products if it happened. Apple buying AMD would probably spell the end of cheap quad core processors for the masses.

JsonHenry5137d ago

I'll never buy AMD/ATi ever again if this happens. Mostly because I won't be able to afford more $$ for the Apple name.

Cueil5137d ago

@OP those were my exact words when I read the title

dragunrising5137d ago

No one has mentioned yet the effect this deal could have on the future Xbox. Ati, owned by AMD, manufactures (created the architecture?) the GPU of the 360 currently. If Apple buys AMD, Microsoft may be forced to use Nvidia as their future GPU. Either that or Apple will create their own console...

krauler5137d ago (Edited 5137d ago )

nevermind

+ Show (7) more repliesLast reply 5137d ago
TOO PAWNED5138d ago

could be amazing move by apple if true

MarshallXDTeach5138d ago

I'd like to think of it as a move that could benefit the Mac in terms of gaming possibilities. Though I heard through the grapevine that AMD still relies on Intel in some sort of way(take this as clear speculation though). If they did pick up the company AMD, I wonder if Apple would keep producing AMD products for the gaming community…I know I would with the latest earnings report that came out for AMD.

Letros5138d ago (Edited 5138d ago )

Would have been a great move back when AMD introduced the first x64 processors.

Now I believe this would just be a move to obtain cheaper hardware, and still charge the same amount of money.

I don't think they will removed all Intel based systems, triple channel DDR3 is currently only available for Intel based systems and it is vastly superior for professional media, seems to be the only real reason to have to own a Mac.

I doubt it has anything to do with gaming, that problem lies with 99% of games being coded in DirectX API, Mac would have to use OpenGL.

respn5137d ago

Apple keep your bright rave colored hands away from AMD. You only want to rape and charge us for it.

XxRoosterxX5137d ago (Edited 5137d ago )

Apple is turning into Microsoft.

People just love Apple too much to realize it.

bjornbear5137d ago

when their products repeatedly fail and are rushed out

but so far that has not been the case

they may be expensive, they may be flashy and limited somewhat, but they are of quality, thats what seperates them from MS

otherwise, they are pretty close

RagTagBnd4455137d ago

I would take a microsoft product over an apple product any day (not talking about consoles). I also thinks Windows 7 is far superior to any apple OS. Anyways i don't want all the restrictions Apple put in their products.

Cueil5137d ago

how quickly people seem to forget the crappy battery for what the first three generations of the iPod or that iTunes was a mess until Zune software showed them that Pictures are indeed greater than spread sheets(and it still a messy piece of software)

matey5136d ago (Edited 5136d ago )

No they dont not 1 of my friends have an apple product were aged 28-30 so maybe its for kids that like gadgets but there is 1 thing that apple will never have and thats 1st party developers or in house devs to make insane games like nintendo or even sony they have developers at nintendo that are so talented they get praised for having hollywood quality games 95% average for all nintendo games on metacritic no other company can say that and at the end of the day if nintendo go with FUSION tech in the wii 2 it will be able to do in game CGI graphics as well as directx 11 so along with the talented developers its endless what could happen in game design for wii2 i mean even with this wii the games like mario galaxy 2 ect are too good no apple game will ever come close to that quality nintendo have devs that have worked for them since they were 18 years old now there 45-55 years old some alot younger but thats the experience nintendo have and with making sora productions an in house developer will make things even better but apple could buy all they want nintendo quality is hard to come by

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 5136d ago
MetalFreakMike5137d ago

I do not like Apple at all! If they buy AMD then I will be stuck buying Intel products again! I am hoping this will never happen!

I do not care for Intel at all. They can keep their one grand 6 core processors to themselves. I'll wait for AMD to bring a cheaper and just as good processor out for less then half the price.

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70°

Best GPU for V Rising in 2024 - our top picks reviewed

Here's our guide to the best GPUs for V Rising in 2024, now that the game is out of early access - the best from Nvidia, AMD, and even Intel.

got_dam3h ago(Edited 3h ago)

Slow news day, I guess.

70°

MSI releases new RTX 4060 Ti bundle that fans of Monster Hunter will love

MSI celebrates the 20th anniversary of Monster Hunter with this unique bundle that features a matching RTX 4060 Ti and game controller.

290°

Why Xbox believes it must cut costs and close studios

Companies, particularly public companies like Microsoft, need to grow.

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eurogamer.net
gold_drake1d 15h ago

i mean its pretty simple, they spent close to 30 billion in acquiring activision, they thought they'd make it bk no problem, and that didnt happen.

its just shit that because of MS's miscalculation alot of people lost their jobs.

Jingsing1d 11h ago

This is exactly what many people said would happen including the CMA and FTC. Lies lies and more lies and they allowed a $69 billion buy out to happen.

gold_drake1d 11h ago

oh yeh it was 70 billion. that was my bad haha even worse.

JackBNimble14h ago

MS has educated financial advisers, they knew there was little chance to recoup the 70billion just to break even on the Activision deal let alone whatever other nonsense is going on in MS.
This whole thing was to corner the market for leverage.

thesoftware7301d 11h ago (Edited 1d 11h ago )

gold,

You can't be serious, right?

Do you think that MS thought they would make 80bill in a year & Half? They haven't even released titles under MS yet, lol.

But in fact, that A/B revenue is already paying off, look at the last earnings call. That $80 billion is long-term money, my guy, no sane person/company would think they would make that back in any short-term situation, it's a long-term investment.

Let's play silly then. If MS's reason for laying off staff and closing studios was due(which it really was not) to the A/B deal, tell me what Sony's reason was for past studio closures, the recent 900-person layoffs, closing Sony London, shutting down Dreams, and closing Japan Studio? Zipper? Psygnosis? cuts at all their internal studios.

Keep in mind, you are claiming MS's reason is because of the A/B deal; please explain Sony's reason.

Hofstaderman1d 11h ago

You actually still defending them? Sheesh.....

gold_drake1d 11h ago

this is not a sony vs MS debate. dont make it something it isnt.

and of course not, but im pretty sure they thought they'd make more money after the deal. they didnt, and closed off some studios.

its pretty insane to think there is any other reason for the closure of studios in this case.

romulus231d 11h ago (Edited 1d 11h ago )

(It really was) due to the Activision Blizzard deal and the loss of physical sales due to gamepass. You keep bringing up Sony in all your posts about this, stop deflecting and trying to change the topic, this is about MS and what they are doing.

BehindTheRows1d 10h ago

Has nothing to do with Sony. Stay on topic.

notachance1d 10h ago

once in a while you see someone too invested in their make-believe console war that everything happened has to be connected to said war…

a bit of banter between fans is normal, this crusade you’re doing now isn’t.

Chevalier1d 10h ago

Wow idiotic. You bring up very old closures not that there haven't been recent ones from Playstations, but, seriously stop deflecting. This has NOTHING to do with Playstation.

Does Playstation got $3 trillion behind them and daddies wallet? No they don't so stop making a fool of yourself.

Xbox has never been profitable really and they just keep losing money so between their worst hardware sales, terrible 3rd party sales and now terrible 1st party sales.

Gamepass numbers that are no longer being announced shows their numbers after 3 years of missed targets has flatlined. Plus their recent gains up to 34 million were ONLY because they folded Gold members in too. Absolutely take your idiotic rhetoric out of here. Keep on topic without deflecting.

S2Killinit1d 10h ago

Ayayayay with these xbox/MS excuses.

Reaper22_1d 5h ago

How dare you mention Sony! Everyone here knows when Sony closes a studio and lay off workers it was the right thing to do. Even when they bought Gaikai and fired almost everyone it was the right thing to do.

Gamers can be such hypocrites sometimes.

andy851d 4h ago

Is it? That's revenue not profit. Completely different.

fr0sty18h ago

The earnings call only showcased how dire the situation is... Even with ABK and Bethesda, they still couldn't make enough to keep investors happy, gamepass subs are stagnant, and hardware sales are tanking.

+ Show (7) more repliesLast reply 18h ago
thesoftware7301d 8h ago (Edited 1d 8h ago )

Drake,

"this is not a sony vs MS debate. dont make it something it isnt."

You are correct that it's not an MS Vs Sony Topic, but when exaggeration and imagination mix from a one-sided social group, similar examples are needed to ground radical thoughts; in this instance, the example was that shutting down 3,4,5, even 6 studios during a restructure/ buyout/acquisition is not some anomaly(it can suck) that has to be dissected or spell doom and gloom.

"But I'm pretty sure they thought they'd make more money after the deal. They didn't, and they closed off some studios."

But they did make more money, a lot, actually; the last earnings call showed a huge growth in profit, almost all due to A/B revenue.

"its pretty insane to think there is any other reason for the closure of studios in this case."

The fact that they did make money, kinda throws this out the window, and besides, you don't wake up and say, hey let's close a studio, you look at the output, you look at the dev as a whole, the long term and short term, you weigh it against all other studios and goals, you keep key members, ect..then you close if they are the weakest links...which by MS analysis they were.

Again, I will make a small Sony comparison, just so some of you can understand and see past the bias; Insomniac, ND, and Bungie have made some of the best games ever created, yet Sony saw fit to cut jobs in every of these studios, even tho Insomniac & ND are the biggest producers of PS games, leagues ahead better than Tango and Arkane, yet, they saw cuts, mind you, while being the TOP produces of PS first party. They were told to cut costs, and more jobs may be on the line, and Bungie is being threatened by a hostile Sony takeover. Put that in perspective, as I know that layoffs and dev closures are different, but if the best of the best is getting cut off, it is less than surprising, that lesser studios are closing.

@Cheva,
My response fits well with your comments as well. You even went on to prove that the dev closures are not just due to A/B acquisition. Then you point out Sony has less money than MS, inferring that MS should keep devs open that they see as lesser earners, while Sony having less money makes it okay to close them. lol...it doesn't work that way.

gold_drake1d 8h ago

im not reading all of that. u have ur opinion, i have mine.

thats rly it.

but this aint sony vs ms.

ApocalypseShadow1d 8h ago

You're trying to compare a 100 billion company to a company that has 3 TRILLION worth. SIE has to live or die on their own. And in turn, PlayStation has helped the main company again and again. Sony has to balance out what is working and not working in the company.

While Xbox has Daddy Warbucks footing the bill to keep the platform afloat. They have been bleeding money from Nvidia hardware in the OG Xbox, the RROD fiasco, the attempted 2013 DRM nonsense and the lies about being the most powerful console in the world and the losses of paying out millions to prop up a service hoping it catches on with enough subscribers to justify its existence.

They're not comparable if Xbox isn't allowed to live or die by its actions. It's subsidized. Revenue isn't profit. And if they were profiting on their own, they wouldn't be closing developers. If they were profiting, they wouldn't need Daddy Warbucks spending 80 to 100 billion buying up 3rd party publishers to sustain a loss leading platform.

They stopped announcing game sales, stopped announcing hardware sales, stopped announcing game pass subscribers, they are putting games on their competitors platforms but you're telling us that they are doing great even after killing jobs and closing developers at Xbox.

Stop drinking the Kool aid. You're drunk.

Chevalier22h ago

Again at which point did Playstation have a $3 trillion company shift the market with a giant purchase?

"But they did make more money, a lot, actually; the last earnings call showed a huge growth in profit, almost all due to A/B revenue."

Lol. No they didn't. Increased revenue was ONLY due to adding Activision Blizzard revenue in. Growth was only 1 percent. It's idiots like you that have no idea what they're talking about is why Xbox isn't better than it is. You guys just make excuses continually.

If Xbox got so much profit then why did they stop announcing hardware numbers? Why did they stop announcing Gamepass numbers? Oh right because they're NOT profitable. Their sales in every category has dropped off the face of the planet. It's why Spencer will be closing more studios and canceling upcoming projects too.

The Wood15h ago

How can they be profitable when they're not selling enough hardware, software or subs. You need take a seat on this one my friend unless you can prove you angles

jwillj2k414h ago

Sony didnt shut down the studios you mentioned after they made last of us or ratchet and clank or destiny. Cutting jobs is not equal to closing studios. Sony cuts are a candle in the sun of Microsoft’s closures.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 14h ago
WelkinCole1d 3h ago

I am pretty sure MS knew this would happen and this was part of their plan. I mean if anyone with half a brain can see this happening I am pretty sure a multi billion company like MS knew this would happen

The whole strategy in buying Beth and Acti/Blizzard is for

1. Buy established games they can have under xbox because they have done a horrible job in building their portfolio internally for the past 15 years

2. Following from 1, try and boost xbox competitivenss against a dominat PS which MS after 3 tries still can't crack

3. Follolwing from 2, try and weaken Playstation dominance by taking out these massive multiplats from the PS

4. Following from 3, try and profit off from the PS domiance with selected games they will still have on the PS to make money like COD

5. Obviously get the IP's by buying them instead of creating them which again as I mentioned in number 1 they have been woeful in doing

None of these had anyting to do with keeping all the devs they accuried. MS has always been very shitty to Devs under them. Look at what happned to Bungie for example.

I believe MS in court truely mean it when they said they had to do something because PS was just too dominant. This was their last roll of the dice.

And from the looks of things. It has not panned out as MS had hoped. PS5 is still as dominant as ever and xbox is still behind. Worse still their MP's they got is not irreplaceable as they thought. Starfield? lol!. There have not been any major shift in momentum in this console war in their favor so now its time to start cutting their loses and it starts with the most expensive cost for any company. People.

Michiel19891d 1h ago

for a comparison, sony laid of a bigger % of it's staff this year than ms, it's what companies sadly do nowadays. If you think with GP and Bethesda + acti aquisition they were looking for quick cash, you couldn't be more wrong. It hasn't even been a year, "they thought they'd make it bk no problem, and that didnt happen." shows you have 0 understanding of how a business operates.

thesoftware73012h ago

@ Michiel1989

Exactly this!

I'm reading these comments, and it's mesmerizing how off-base most of them are.

I posted a few comments above, and their rebuttals have nothing to do with the points that I presented; when they start doing that, I just ignore them because, at that point, they're debating all over the place.

Profchaos18h ago

30 more like 70 to 80 plus 7 for Bethesda

Tzuno13h ago

meanwhile everything turned woke an inevitably went downward, i'd say it serves them well if they promote such kind of approach, mwuahahahahahhh!

+ Show (4) more repliesLast reply 12h ago
anast1d 11h ago

They are going to use AI for a large portion of the game development process. Upper management need bonuses and the shareholders need more money. So, people will lose their jobs.

Skuletor1d 11h ago

Maybe they were already using AI to make business decisions, which would explain why they closed Hi-Fi Rush's studio, then said they need more games like Hi-Fi Rush not long after that announcement.

Crows901d 10h ago (Edited 1d 10h ago )

They shouldn't have bought any studios. Some is okay...but they went on a shopping spree...stupid

Einhander19721d 10h ago

The better question is why did Microsoft buy publishers for a service they were subsidizing they knew couldn't support.

And why are so many websites trying to make people feel sorry for Microsoft instead of truly criticizing the fact they are closing studios and killing jobs that would have been fine if Microsoft themselves hadn't gotten involved.

Quit feeling sorry for Microsoft and start feeling sorry for the industry and the all the gamers who are actually losing out.

THIS IS MICROSOFTS FAULT.

RNTody1d 10h ago

The first thing that happens after any major acquisition or merger is a consolidation of the whole new portfolio, which includes cutting any excess, bloat or portfolios that don't fit the larger MO of the big boy. So far, it's been par for the course with Microsoft and that's why gamers have been so against this acquisition. Tango Gameworks is the beginning. You think Microsoft wants to pay to keep small timers like Ninja Theory in business?

There is absolutely zero evidence to suggest that Microsoft will improve any of these studios, but plenty to suggest that they will get rid of what they don't need and hold onto the IP. The real agenda of the acquisition was always to acquire The Elder Scrolls, Diablo, Fallout, Call of Duty, Candy Crush etc. that will create millions in passive revenue stream for Microsoft regardless of where the games release. Microsoft simply wants their cut.

Because of Games Pass Microsoft has no interest in investing in new IP which is risky and requires creative talent they can neither nurture nor manage. Game Pass has also not grown in the way Microsoft expected it to, even post acquisitions. Therefore the logical thing to do, without serious money makers to release, is to cut as much cost as possible.

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