Since the graphics portion of the company was acquired by VIA Technologies in early 2001 to make integrated GPU cores for their chipsets, S3 got very quiet and pretty much abandoned both the discreet/graphics card/retail and the integrated/OEM markets. That is until the end of last year, when VIA spinned off S3 onto an independent company, according to S3's product marketing manager, Benson Tao (pictured) that I met at the GDC.
I think it's worth pointing out that "independent company" doesn't mean they aren't still owned by VIA. Their situation is now similar to Centaur's: they are a fully owned subsidiary but VIA's management only asks for a status report from time to time (every month in Centaur's case, presumably more frequently here).
I think it's worth pointing out that "independent company" doesn't mean they aren't still owned by VIA. Their situation is now similar to Centaur's: they are a fully owned subsidiary but VIA's management only asks for a status report from time to time (every month in Centaur's case, presumably more frequently here).
