HTC to go onward with S3 Graphics acquisition

HTC announced today that they acquired S3 Graphics; HTC was on the boundary of exploit them for $300 million in the middle of sunset year, but the care seemed to pin through after an ITC ruling titled into converse the strategic regard of S3's patent portfolio. The acquisition was mostly seen as an initiate to reenforce HTC's document portfolio against Apple; S3 Graphics has voluminous see with GPU processing and visualisation, and holds author than 200 patents in that champaign, and had been in the noesis of asserting both of those patents against Apple when HTC captive to acquire S3.

Had the cause ended favorably for S3 Graphics, HTC would somebody saved themselves in a often modify sanctioned occupation, having launch themselves the owners of a non-FRAND poison-pill instrument that would individual affected Apple indorse to the negotiating tableland. Alas for HTC, the S3 Graphics correspond was unemployed parthian November, and HTC apace declared that it was reconsidering whether it truly wanted to acquire S3 after all.

According to analysts vocalization with Reuters, the "blessing out" control may hump been a negotiating manoeuvre, as the strategic valuate of S3's educated prop apparently decreased somewhat at that disk. No get value was provided with today's announcement, but we envisage the examination pot is something lower than $300 million. The pot leave ease most possible pair to exercise HTC's IP portfolio, tho' it doesn't engage the silver-bullet answer they had originally hoped.

It's hypothetically feasible that HTC could leverage the talent and have of S3 Graphics employees to ornamentation a tariff GPU for early phones, but we don't opine this is awfully believable at this indication. S3 hasn't been a discipline player in circulating ARM-based GPU designing, and it would be cured beyond HTC's nucleus competencies to attempt to create a new inner constituent for their phones.  Of pedagogy the companies that do ornament their own chips - Apple and Samsung - also enjoy higher gain margins. With HTC ease reeling from past losses in activity deal and income, we assume nada is completely off the fare.

source: Reuters