Azure is tenfold more important for Microsoft than Xbox.
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Rumor: Microsoft is interested in buying AMD
- Thread starter statham
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Azure is tenfold more important for Microsoft than Xbox.
The Abominable Snowman
Member
This is so, so, so much bigger than console warz.
I'm sure MS will keep AMD's business relationships relaxed.
In any case, I'd be surprised if they could save "billion" dollars per year from the acquisition on the Xbox Chips. If this was indeed the case, it would have already bought it? They bought Mojang for 2 billion?
Too bad that x86 license isn't transferable. I'd love to see Apple buy them for even tighter OSX/hardware integration.
Outside of search and ads (they don't make money off Android directly), Google isn't really that powerful.
MS is thoroughly stomping Google in cloud platform services, second only to Amazon. Outlook is still more used across enterprise and consumer level
Sony makes more off PS4 than MS does off XBO.
Hell is MS even making money off XBO? They've dropped the price so much it's hard to imagine they are.
Outside of search and ads (they don't make money off Android directly), Google isn't really that powerful.
MS is thoroughly stomping Google in cloud platform services, second only to Amazon. Outlook is still more used across enterprise and consumer level
Does Sony even make money off PS4?
Microsoft makes more than enough money on the whole.
Sony makes more off PS4 than MS does off XBO.
Hell is MS even making money off XBO? They've dropped the price so much it's hard to imagine they are.
JeffG
Member
I am sure they are quite serious
Well AMD is perfect for a buyout right now. They are such a missmanaged company, its a wonder they are still here. From my POV they are literally living off goodwill, their brand hasnt turned toxic yet but its only a matter of time. Better grab whats there and do something with it.
Shpeshal Nick
aka Collingwood
Kinda like how Minecraft is exclusive to Xbox right? Right?
R10Neymarfan
Member
Yes MS does have one the best programmers in the business and they can throw money at devs more than Nvidia to rival Gameworks
Dr. Zoidberg
Member
Of course. Good business often makes strange bedfellows. I'm just saying that in the late 80's-90's, many believed that Intel/MS were smiling and slapping each others' backs as they happily planned together to monopolize the market. From what I understand, the truth is there was actually a lot of bickering and animosity between the two but they worked through it for the greater good (profits).
I don't think AMD should be bought by MS, but they're not doing well enough on their own. Someone is going to buy them eventually.
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sabatoge
Calm Killer
In all media, only true fans who consume every book, film, game, or pog collection deserve to know what's going on.
Oh man. This would be amazing! I hope the buy AMD.
Yea, and they quickly made profits off Minecraft. Has the game ever left top sales charts on Xbox and PlayStation since it came out? That thing has insane legs. I think it was top #1 on the 360 charts in the year it came out, only pushed to #2 for a month by Call of Duty. IIRC.
Surfaces with cheap and powerful AMD APU's in them? Better support for AMD in Windows? Sounds like a win to me. Though MS and Intel are tight as shit in the enterprise space, not sure how well this would work out for them there. Ain't no company serious about infrastructure going to invest in AMD CPU's and supporting motherboards or blade infrastructure (unless they're incompetent).
rayisbeast
Neo Member
MS will know what is in Sonys console and then can easily make a more powerful one.
This is big picture stuff, not fanboy console war BS.
Not sure if it will happen but it makes sense if it does and I doubt Sony and/or Nintendo and going to suddenly change any future plans they may have in place just because of this. Business is business and money talks so as long as a MS owned AMD still provides what they need for the right price then they have no reason to change.
Not sure if it will happen but it makes sense if it does and I doubt Sony and/or Nintendo and going to suddenly change any future plans they may have in place just because of this. Business is business and money talks so as long as a MS owned AMD still provides what they need for the right price then they have no reason to change.
renegade_dewitt
Member
There was talk in the past about this happening, but due to Anti-trust issues, this never came to be and will never come to be. That is why Intel "supports" AMD in the backburner and wouldn't let anything happen to AMD.
This rumor of Microsoft buying AMD is a nonissue to me and will fizzle out.
Sony is Microsoft's main competitor?
C'mon now.
Sony is a competitor in a market they operate in but they are not their main competitor.
They don't need to know their exact designs for this to happen, though.
This move would make sense for Microsoft the same way that buying Nokia made sense for them: they could use the company to sell you a Microsoft product which was namely Windows phones.
I see Microsoft using AMD to sell you on a Windows 10/Xbox One PC hybrid or promote Xbox One having AMD or even yet manufacture a Microsoft branded graphics card. The point is this is more of a long game for Microsoft than a short game. It also shows that Xbox's future will likely be similar to Steam Machines.
The side effect being that Sony and Nintendo end up being less willing to still use AMD since a portion goes to Microsoft even though the Minecraft purchase had no effect on Minecraft being pulled from PSN stores.
I see Microsoft using AMD to sell you on a Windows 10/Xbox One PC hybrid or promote Xbox One having AMD or even yet manufacture a Microsoft branded graphics card. The point is this is more of a long game for Microsoft than a short game. It also shows that Xbox's future will likely be similar to Steam Machines.
The side effect being that Sony and Nintendo end up being less willing to still use AMD since a portion goes to Microsoft even though the Minecraft purchase had no effect on Minecraft being pulled from PSN stores.
hydrophilic attack
Member
This is the end of Playstation . Nothing can stand against Microsoft and their war chest.
Step 1: Buy AMD.
Step 2: Refuse to sell chips to Sony
Step 3: Sony goes bankrupt
Step 4: Phil will rule as the most handsome emperor of gaming ever.
People laughed at The One, but in the end MS always gets the last laugh.
Step 1: Buy AMD.
Step 2: Refuse to sell chips to Sony
Step 3: Sony goes bankrupt
Step 4: Phil will rule as the most handsome emperor of gaming ever.
People laughed at The One, but in the end MS always gets the last laugh.
Sony/Nintendo might not have a choice if Intel and Nvidia continue to work at a much higher premium.
SlipperyFishes
Banned
That's not how it works.
For one thing trade secrets are protected. Two? Samsung would be destroying the Apple AX chips yearly, but they aren't. They fab. those chips for Apple.
Suzushiiro
Banned
This decision would probably have very little to do with console wars and more to do with the server market, and I also highly doubt that MS would refuse to allow Sony and Nintedo to work with AMD on chipsets for future consoles. Sony and Nintendo would in turn not give too many fucks about paying MS for the chips in their consoles, though the fact that MS would know a lot about Nintendo and Sony's future hardware if they kept using AMD would be an incentive for them to go with another manufacturer.
Steve Youngblood
Member
Yeah. I mean the problem this gem wasn't that they were outfoxed by Sony in that Sony came up with amazing tech MS couldn't hope to compete with. Their problem is that they designed it around features that were costly and ultimately not what people wanted.
vpance
Member
Likely, there shouldn't be much worry about PS4. But Sony better cover their asses for the PS5 contract, or have a good contingency plan in case their deal is poisoned.
Yes, but it also requires new hardware and I doubt every Windows 10 phone going forward will include it. Especially the budget devices such as the Lumia 4XX-6XX.
Crayon
Member
You have to find two other juniors to partner with and you can have one vote between the three of you. Or you could upgrade to gold.
PumpkinSpice
Banned
This would be a surprisingly good fit.
Captain Tuttle
Member
Main competitor? The revenue Sony competes with Microsoft for is a rounding error on MS's balance sheet.
vpance
Member
They don't, but they will take inspiration from it for sure
Just like how they got IBM to design the 360 CPU using ideas from Cell and Sony couldn't do anything about it, cuz they didn't cover all their bases.
Boomstompfloppy
Banned
I dont think this would change anything, big companies deal with each other all the time behind the scenes.
Of note, I'm not saying Mojang was a bad acquisition, but if MS were to find the AMD acquisition as lucrative as the quote in OP would lead us to believe, it would have already made it? Again, not to say that an AMD acquisition wouldn't be lucrative, but that billion dollar per year figure from Xbox Chips is what I'm not wrapping my head around.
Well by that logic, wouldn't they have bought Mineraft sooner? Why didn't they buy Mojang soon after Minecraft released?
The more I think about this, the more I hope it happens. I would definitely switch from Nvidia/Intel to all-AMD if Microsoft was at the helm. Imagine the driver support!
Schweinehund
Member
I don't know what to think of this. I like Nadella's vision for MS but I don't want AMD to do anything significantly different from what they're currently doing except more cash for RND and marketing.
I don't think anything will change console side.
I don't think anything will change console side.
GameAddict411
Member
Even if it's true, I don't think it matters. The supplierfor the iPhone CPU is Samsung, and the biggest supplier for the camera for the iPhone is Sony. See? Each company has a product that competes with the apple iPhone. It doesn't mean that Apple has any restrictions, or disadvantages from getting hardware from different companies. It's the same thing here. The only thing that might make a difference is for the future totally new products. It might slightly affect the choice of the processors for Sony, but Sony won't even think twice if AMD again affered the best bang for the buck so to speak.
Silent Chief
Member
They paid $2.5 billion, just after they announced 60 millions copies sold in 3 years.
To make a profit out of that they would have needed to sell another 83 millions copies at $30 since then. They have a long way to go.
Exactly. The only thing I see happening on the console side is Xbox having better hardware for the same price, because now they don't have to pay AMD for the design process. They would still have manufacturing costs, though, which is probably the majority of that 100$ fee per unit.
The Abominable Snowman
Member
ARM is not where it's at.
And AMD needs capital. Their Zen microprocessor architecture may indeed be a competant rival to Intel. It'd be a shame if AMD had to shutter some operations before it could make it to market.
Basically this thread.
The "article" is hilarious. If Microsoft was paying $100 per chip to AMD then look at AMD's quarterly results which are available publicly. This journalist clearly didn't do his homework.
Also for reference this site was snubbed by AMD during their Fury X launch so this is hardly surprising.
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