Nvidia "should buy AMD"

 

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By Barry Collins

Posted on 14 Feb 2008 at 08:08

With the world still recoiling from the proposed Microsoft/Yahoo deal, a leading tech analyst has suggested another unlikely technology takeover could be on the cards: Nvidia and AMD.

American Technology Research analyst, Doug Freedman, says Nvidia's CEO would be the perfect candidate to reinvigorate AMD, following its troubled takeover of Nvidia's chief rival, ATi.

"One candidate to consider [to run AMD] would be Jen-Hsun Huang, who is a serial deliverer with a passion for execution and perfection," Freedman writes, according to the EETimes.

However, Freedman says that Huang wouldn't be tempted by a mere job switch. "We do not believe Huang would even consider leaving Nvidia to go to AMD (he told us so)," Freedman claims.

So the only option would be for Nvidia to make a bid for the chip giant. "We do not believe he would walk away from the challenge of buying AMD on the cheap and turning the company around," Freedman speculates.

"In addition, we note that the Intel/AMD roadmap of integration of the CPU/GPU could pose a risk to Nvidia, and buying AMD propels Nvidia into a formidable competitor for Intel with the upside coming from Huang's ability to re-architect AMD's design."

Buying AMD would also give Nivdia a monopoly in the graphics card market, something that the competition authorities and Intel, in particular, would surely have grave concerns about.

And given AMD's problems with integrating ATi into its business, it's unlikely to have much appetite for yet another high-profile merger.