CPU maker Intel is pressuring smaller rival Via Technologies to exit the CPU market, industry sources in Taiwan claim.
In exchange, Intel will allow Via to continue making PC chipsets which use Intel"s patented technology, say the sources at PC mainboard manufacturers, who do not wish to be named.
Intel and Via offices had not replied to a request for comment by the end of business hours in Taipei. The two companies typically will not comment on negotiations while they are in progress.
Via earns the bulk of its revenue from chipsets, but its CPUs are generating growing profits. The tiny, cheap CPUs have increasingly been adopted by designers of products like handheld PCs, low-cost notebooks, media servers and other applications where low cost, noise, heat and power consumption are strong selling points. Via"s CPUs have begun to take orders from Intel in these niche markets.
Via has recorded operating profits of $22.5 million in the first nine months of the year, compared to an $18 million loss last year.