back to article Intel pays VIA $125m to acquire its x86 design talent

Taiwanese manufacturer VIA has traded employees from its CPU design subsidiary Centaur Technology to Intel. "Intel will recruit some of Centaur's employees … with certain covenants from the Company … As consideration, Intel will pay Centaur US$125m," read VIA's Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) announcement. VIA purchased Centaur …

  1. Bartholomew
    FAIL

    Hello round peg, meet pentagnal shaped hole

    I suspect that Intel wants to take Centaur of the table, to block anyone else from snapping them up.

    I have no idea what Centaur is like now, but it used to be a team of about 100 people in total. So when it came to making complex changes, getting positive and negative feedback from everyone involved in that particular change was relatively simple.

    The shoehorning of the Centaur staff into the Intel way of working may not go so well.

    1. Aitor 1

      Re: Hello round peg, meet pentagnal shaped hole

      I would say the key is to remove one x86 licensee from the table.

    2. Bitsminer Silver badge

      Re: Hello round peg, meet pentagnal shaped hole

      Oi, 100 people divided into $125M is....a down payment on a house, each.

      So now we know the acquisition cost of a chip designer. Wow, just wow.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Hello round peg, meet pentagnal shaped hole

        "a down payment on a house, each."

        Damn... 1.25 million is just a down payment? That's 1st World for sure.

        Realtors and banks destroy everything.

      2. Jim Mitchell

        Re: Hello round peg, meet pentagnal shaped hole

        That 125 million is going to Centaur, not the employees in question.

  2. x 7

    Cyrix?

    Did Centaur include VIA's other CPU brand - Cyrix?

    And what happened to S3 graphics? That was in the VIA mix somewhere

    1. the spectacularly refined chap

      Re: Cyrix?

      As I understand it what VIA bought was essentially IP - trademarks, patents and importantly license agreements to protect themselves from Intel. The design team that once was Cyrix dissolved in the period under National ownership. The account I have heard suggest this was more a gradual atrophy process as engineers left not liking the new regime rather than a conscious decision on National's part.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Can't have someone else with an x86 license around

    Presumably the actual purpose of this is to kill the competition, rather than do anything worthwhile.

  4. Bartholomew

    To disable China's deal with VIA

    At a guess Intel bought VIA to try and disable the deal with Shanghai Zhaoxin Semiconductor Co., Ltd. and block access to manufacture x86_64-compatible CPUs (Zhào xīn means million core).

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