The ATI Acquisition - AMD's Master Stroke

It was just a few short months ago that we heard the first rumblings of rumours that AMD were looking to acquire ATI and, in all honesty, the vast majority of us poured a hefty dose of scorn initially on said stories.  Back then, it seemed (at a snap judgement) that ATI being merged with AMD or acquired in such a way was simply inconceivable.

Yet, the stories rumbled on for some time, gathering in both pace and veracity as more and more sources and points of view were added to the mix.  We eventually reached a kind of 'critical mass' when it was revealed that even Intel were taking these stories seriously and had now prepared for just such a scenario occurring.  It wasn't until the end of last week however that the stories seemed to stop becoming just that, stories, and turned towards being definitive, hard-edged facts.  Suddenly, we were no longer living in the realms of rumours and fiction - The deal was on, and was set to be announced next week.

Thus, this Monday, it came as little surprise when we heard that AMD had put in an offer valued at approximately $5.4 billion to acquire ATI Technologies, a deal which is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of this year.  But the question remains, what do AMD hope to gain from this move?  In this article, we take a brief look at the reasons behind AMD's attempt to acquire ATI, as well as why they chose ATI at all.