For Sale - AMD?

Word on the streets of high finance is that AMD might be up for sale - and the buyer is bloody weird!

This one's certainly got us scratching our heads. There's a rumour circulating in the halls of high finance that Advanced Micro Devices - AMD to most people - is up for sale. The news comes based on some significant rises in the company's share price over the last day or so.

However, the real kicker is who might be sniffing out the acquisition - it's Dell!

There's a lot of speculation regarding the recent departures of COO Robert Rivet and CEO Dirk Meyer. "There's no management team there," in the words of one analyst, so perhaps the time is ripe? Or maybe these guys saw the writing on the wall.

Regardless, even as a rumour it's big stuff, and the possible acquisition would be amongs the biggest changes to the industry landscape in, well, forever.

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26 Comments

HeavyLancer Feb 16, 2011 11:10 AM	I don't know which is worse - this potential sale, or the Nokia-Microsoft WP7 partnership :(
philo-sofa Feb 16, 2011 11:26 AM	Yeah I've hear this, and the market's certainly reacted, however afaik it's still considered 'pretty unlikely' that AMD will go for sale right now? ATIC supposedly also have their eyes on AMD, albeit in the longer term..
Nchalada Feb 16, 2011 11:46 AM	what?! oh god, last thing dell needs is to be making their own procs AND mobos lol
A Hitman Feb 16, 2011 11:46 AM	I doubt it, there were also rumours that sun and oracle would buy it too.
Nchalada Feb 16, 2011 11:49 AM	By the way, love the new logo! :P
.:Cyb3rGlitch:. Feb 16, 2011 12:04 PM	Let's just hope that Yahoo don't get any bright ideas... :P
Jeruselem Feb 16, 2011 12:08 PM	Great, I don't need my Dell account manager pestering me to buy AMD computers ...
jdog Feb 16, 2011 12:16 PM	if dell doesnt (hope this doesnt happen) maybe intel should?
.:Cyb3rGlitch:. Feb 16, 2011 12:21 PM	Intel wouldn't touch them, for legal reasons.
sUpEr gEEk Feb 16, 2011 12:22 PM	Lets hope Microsoft doesn't get anty ideas :(
sUpEr gEEk Feb 16, 2011 12:23 PM	^^Jdog^^^ Intel wouldn't be able to due to anti competitive laws
Manbearpig3130 Feb 16, 2011 1:07 PM	as long as AMD doesn't change their red and black color scheme, i'm happy LOL
Dazerath Feb 16, 2011 1:08 PM	Oh no, please dont make me buy a dell computer to used amd products :P
kikz Feb 16, 2011 2:49 PM	Now Dell just needs an OS...
somemadcaaant Feb 16, 2011 2:55 PM	Dell already has the Palm WebOs.
.:Cyb3rGlitch:. Feb 16, 2011 3:20 PM	somemadcaaant, that's HP.
somemadcaaant Feb 16, 2011 3:50 PM	Oh of course.
AMD AKIMBO Feb 16, 2011 4:05 PM	wheres sceptre i thought he'd be here by now ? intel would have the shits big time if this went ahead, just think of the sales they would lose if dell stopped using their cpu's. dell machines would be alot cheaper if they had their own cpu.
the_13th Feb 16, 2011 4:47 PM	Oh god I hope this doesnt happen, it'll be the death of AMD, hang on I thought Dell were in dire straights again? How can they afford to buy anything??
SceptreCore Feb 16, 2011 5:15 PM	Rumours, rumours. AMD aren't about to let themselves be taken over on the eve of one of their greatest releases. They buy their own stock before that.
SceptreCore Feb 16, 2011 5:20 PM	And Dell would probably want to license their chip before braking up a beneficial fight between two competitors.
Athlonite Feb 16, 2011 5:43 PM	ya gotta admit everything Dell touches turns to custard Alienware PC's aren't what they used to be just take a look inside one and MS could do worse than buy AMD could be just the mega cash injection they (AMD) need to compete against Intel long term but all will have to wait until bulldozer arrives and we all see how it performs against Intels Sandy bridge parts
Hasimir Feb 16, 2011 6:23 PM	If AMD is bought by something, I hope there's more truth to the Oracle idea than Dell. Sun have always favoured AMD chips in their X86-64 systems over Intels and it would make sense to further corner that part of the hardware market. Oracle/Sun would be unthrilled at having to deal with Dell in this capacity. The parody Sun advertisements seen in some Sun offices deriding Dell are a good explanation of why. One of the posters uses a line that is something like "Dell, sounds like Hell for a reason."
GRiMEY Feb 17, 2011 8:43 AM	When the rumours first emerged years ago that AMD was looking to buy ATI there was a certain brilliant logic to it. Fusion proves that logic was sound, and that the purchase was an inspired move. Dell buying AMD on the other hand belies no great masterplan, if anything it would be a backwards move. Sun/Oracle would make more sense because of the server focus, but I can't see Sun continuing to sell retail graphics cards, or consumer processors. And while Opteron provides a solid revenue for AMD, the potential for growth is in the consumer space. Similarly AMD doesn't really offer IP or designs in the mobile space for Dell (which is becoming an increasingly important focus in the states for the company). And while the Fusion APUs make Atom seem decidedly low-tech, AMD has a lot to prove in the laptop and desktop space. Dell buying AMD would also likely piss off its main supplier - Intel, which isn't exactly a smart business move. After AMD weathered the storms of recent years and made it out alive, it would be a shame for its promising products to wither and die. The only worrying thing is the rapidity and seeming near-sightedness behind AMD's board jettisoning Dirk Meyer, the very man who ensured AMD survived the past few years.
hicsy Feb 17, 2011 1:12 PM	not from what I heard from AMD yesterday... but funnily enough I did see an article a few days ago and it quoted "AMD/Dell Fusion" which i thought was odd...
AirbourneCalavry Feb 17, 2011 2:14 PM	They better not sell out to Dell if they have to, Dell would abosutlely ruin the name and the products they have strived hard to gain. Dell may have alienware but they rely on AMD and Intel to provide Proccessors and competion

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