Charles Chou, Taipei; Christy Lee, DigiTimes.com [Friday 15 March 2002]
VIA Technologies has confirmed that the graphics division of STMicroelectronics (ST) is indeed the candidate it has been talking with concerning its graphics chip operation. The chipset designer said that after initial negotiations, it plans to cooperate with ST by obtaining graphics chips or related technology from the company, instead of acquiring ST’s graphics unit directly.
However, the deal has not been officially finalized.
According to sources, the primary focus of the cooperation is ST’s new-generation, better-performance Kyro III graphics core, not ST’s present product lines. Motherboard and graphics card manufacturers agree that the technology would allow VIA to effectively enhance its competitiveness in the desktop graphics chip market, especially as Intel has raised the graphics performance of its 845GL integrated chipset to the same level as that of the high-end 845G.
At CeBIT Hannover, both companies introduced their new chip products. VIA displayed five lines – its P4-based chipset P4X333, DVD-ROM drive chip, Ethernet chip, multimedia chip for IAs (information appliances) and new-generation C3 processor. ST launched its latest graphics chip, the Kyro II SE, with a clock speed reaching 200MHz. However, the clock speeds of the latest products from competitors ATI Technologies and Nvidia have achieved 300MHz.