SAY, JUST SAY Microsoft decided to buy AMD to give it a jumpstart into the microprocessor business. What would be some of the implications?
Design by Design
Microsoft"s designing of CPUs for IBM to manufacture is a very interesting move. It may be that they decided some time ago to get into this business, but just took a wait and see if this could be developed into a core competency.
Regulatory Obstacles
Likely, there wouldn"t be significant, if any, regulatory obstacles. As far as the U.S.A., AMD only has about 20% of the market so antitrust wouldn"t come into play. As far as Europe, Germany would be salivating over having Microsoft rev up & expand the AMD factories there. Germany would nudge the E.U. not to take any action.
Competitive Obstacles
Microsoft controls the operating systems for the computer world so it doesn"t really have much to worry about on the Intel front as far as retribution. Via and Transmeta don"t threaten AMD or Intel.
Why does this work?
Microsoft would be in a position to promote the benefits of 64-bit computing. This transition would be perfect to push AMD64 technology. Fabs need cash and Microsoft has plenty of it. Microsoft could build enough capacity in five years to take a majority share of the CPU market. Since Microsoft is famous for taking care of its employees, it can avoid an AMD exodus by providing up-front assurances to employees.