Intel rumored to buy SOITEC (AMD's sole waffer supplier)

If the buyout comes true, it will be a nightmare for AMD / IBM / Chartered / Microsoft 8O

forget it...its the inquirer...

I hope it stays to be just a rumor

Intels got the worlds balls smashed, how mean.


Sorry for bad language

Dang.. that would be crazy.

My first thoughts as well.

What does Intel need with SOI? Meh on Inq.

My first thoughts as well.I don't agree. They aren't a CPU manufacturer....so there's no monopolistic problems there.

My first thoughts as well.I don't agree. They aren't a CPU manufacturer....so there's no monopolistic problems there.
Remember that all their competitors use SOI, and in particular this company.

I wouldn't be too quick to jump on the "It's the Inquirer BS" yet. This story comes from Bloomberg. Bloomberg Link

Although I don't believe the rumor has much merit. It would not be all that unusual of a move for Intel. Future Intel projects will involve integrated lasers on chip which is dependent on SOI technology as I understand it. This could very well be a realistic solution to ensuring adequate quantities of wafers. Intel already does nearly everything else in house. They are still dependent on other companies to supply silicon wafers though.

Also I don't believe this would have any real antitrust implications to it. There are many other silicon companies which would pick up the slack if needed.

I agree with Jack. A move like this from Intel to try to control the supplies would get the attention of the anti-trust people in a hurry. Aslo, there just aren't that many sources of SOI wafers out there, so AMD would be put in a real hurt very fast, further inciting the anti-trust watchdogs.

Besides that, as mentioned by Bloomberg's, since a fair amount of Soitec's business comes from AMD, if Intel bought it and cut off AMD, then Soitec would start loosing money. Further, as Bloomberg's point out, Intel has denied interest in Soitec. This puts the whole thing in the rumor and FUD type of stuff.

Yeah... that would be a great move in the middle of an anti-trust case after admitting your employees hadn't properly retained their e-mails.

I wouldn't be too quick to jump on the "It's the Inquirer BS" yet. This story comes from Bloomberg. Bloomberg Link

Although I don't believe the rumor has much merit. It would not be all that unusual of a move for Intel. Future Intel projects will involve integrated lasers on chip which is dependent on SOI technology as I understand it. This could very well be a realistic solution to ensuring adequate quantities of wafers. Intel already does nearly everything else in house. They are still dependent on other companies to supply silicon wafers though.

Also I don't believe this would have any real antitrust implications to it. There are many other silicon companies which would pick up the slack if needed.

I agree with Jack. A move like this from Intel to try to control the supplies would get the attention of the anti-trust people in a hurry. Aslo, there just aren't that many sources of SOI wafers out there, so AMD would be put in a real hurt very fast, further inciting the anti-trust watchdogs.

Besides that, as mentioned by Bloomberg's, since a fair amount of Soitec's business comes from AMD, if Intel bought it and cut off AMD, then Soitec would start loosing money. Further, as Bloomberg's point out, Intel has denied interest in Soitec. This puts the whole thing in the rumor and FUD type of stuff.A long as there's one other, though....i doubt the gov. can say anything....unless Intel owned that one too.

The likeliness of this happening is next to zit.

As someone already pointed out, Intel doesn't need SOI, and probably won't touch it in the future anyway. I guess Intel is staying CMOS in the foreseeable future.

Aside from that, Intel already has tons of FABs to maintain. Not like they're going to shell out billions of dollars to acquire another FAB.

They do seem to have billions of dollars to spare though--however, with the current difficulties AMD is facing right now, that would be a devastating blow that they will never recover from IMO. ATI's R600 may just beat the 8800GTX--but now the 8800 Ultra just came out, Intel's Core 2 Duo is gaining even more steam, and Dell moves to AMD and almost immediately loses market share (purely coincidence, I think, but definately a dampener on AMD...plus I know few who have actually ordered Dell AMD systems).

AMD is already in serious trouble, more serious than they'll admit I'm afraid. If Intel acquires SOITEC, AMD may fizzle out completely. They are big now, but this'd slowly kill them, even should they find a new waffer supplier. I hope it's FUD...

Ok, here's the best part...(from Bloomberg)

There's speculation that Intel may be considering...

Too many conditionals for me.

Hmmm....you could be on to something here...good find. And, beside that, assuming it's the leading motive, it would make for a really agressive market positioning move for Intel if actually done. Why not? Buy one of the major suppliers to your competitors and make a profit off of their success. It's a bit like hedging your bets...if IBM/AMD/et al silicon business picks up, Intel would get a piece of that pie. It sweetens the deal even more if Intel actually begins using SOI. Hmmm...

As many have stated already, this is baring any legal issues with such a move...I just can't think of any at the moment. Now, if Intel bought the company, then substantially increased the price to IBM/AMD/et al, then that would certainly be an attention grabber.

Inq rubbish.