- Nov 14, 2011
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As part of their third quarter earnings release, VIA Technologies has announced this morning that the company is entering into an unusual agreement with Intel to offload parts of VIA’s x86 R&D subsidiary, Centaur Technology. Under the terms of the murky deal, Intel will be paying Centaur $125 million to pick up part of the engineering staff – or, as the announcement from VIA more peculiarly puts it “recruit some of Centaur's employees to join Intel,” Despite the hefty 9-digit price tag, the deal makes no mention of Centaur’s business, designs, or patents, nor has an expected closing date been announced.
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None the less, local media such as United Daily News is reporting that the Intel deal is indeed not a wholesale sale of Centaur’s team, and that VIA is retaining the Centaur business. So what Intel is getting out of this that’s worth $125 million is, for the moment, a mystery.
VIA To Offload Parts of x86 Subsidiary Centaur to Intel For $125 Million
www.anandtech.com
Centaur's website currently just says "Under construction..." And Intel have somehow bought the rights to try to hire the team? I don't get it, why couldn't Intel just recruit them anyway?
Certainly looks like VIA is getting out of x86. Shame, I wanted to see what their CHA core was like. @Kosusko , you keep up with VIA/Zhaoxin - any idea what this is all about?