14 DAY TRIAL // Some time ago, rumors started circulating that Oracle was thinking of buying AMD, and while the latter is supposedly not exactly looking to be bought, it is not completely against the idea either, so say reports.
Those that keep track of such developments will have likely heard that Oracle was supposedly planning on buying a major chip developer at some point.
Advanced Micro Devices may seem like a suitable target but, even though it does have a stake in the high-performance and sever markets, its primary share of revenue comes from consumer hardware.
Oracle, on the other hand, is unlikely to actually want to make its presence known overly much in this segment, and this would make the billions spent on AMD more or less unjustified.
The assumption that Oracle may buy the Sunnyvale, California-based outfit was made by financial analysts soon after Oracle's chief executive Larry Ellison said Oracle was looking to buy a semiconductor company.
In response to the rumors, the Chief Executive Officer of Advanced Micro Devices actually said, or so state reports, that the company it leads is not as against the prospect as some may think.
"AMD is not for sale, but we are happy to listen to any proposal which is in the interest to our shareholders," said Dirk Meyer at an industry conference.
There are, of course, certain consequences that AMD will have to deal with in the unlikely possibility that such a buyout does happen.
The fact that its consumer-oriented business will probably suffer is just one of the issues.
The other one is that, while it does, currently, have a stake in the server processor market, its CPUs may end up losing appeal if their maker loses its so-called neutrality.
Of course, Oracle may just look for a different semiconductor maker, but the challenge will be to find one with a large enough IP portfolio to be worthwhile.