AMD Sells Handheld Graphics Unit to Qualcomm

AMD continued its previously-announced strategy of streamlining its business by agreeing to sell its handheld graphics unit to Qualcomm for about $65 million in cash.

According to the companies, the deal has already signed and closed as of Jan. 19. Under the agreement, Qualcomm will hold back an undisclosed amount for indemnification expenses, plus and make adjustments for employee-related expenses. Qualcomm has already made offers to several of AMD's handheld design teams, as part of the deal, the companies said.

The deal comes as no surprise; said in its fall analyst meeting that it was trying to sell its handheld business, as part of an overall strategy to concentrate on its core microprocessor and graphics businesses; for the graphics portion, the handheld business was not as important. Rival Nvidia also owns a handheld graphics processor, the Tegra, which the company continues to sell.

For Qualcomm, the graphics technology will be integrated into the company's other integrated cores, providing additional capabilities to Qualcomm's system-on-a-chip products. (full Story)

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