TECH NEWS – A tech giant openly admits that the partnership with Sony and directly the success of the PlayStation 4 is what bought it time to avoid bankruptcy…
Today, it is one of the world’s leading technology companies, but it was on the verge of bankruptcy ten years ago. AMD’s problems at the beginning of the last decade were so severe that the word “miracle” is often used to describe its current situation. Two factors actually explain the phenomenon. The first is that Lisa Su, CEO of Advanced Micro Devices, has been running the company since 2014. The second is related to video games: consoles, in general, and the PlayStation 4, in particular, were vital in avoiding bankruptcy for the company.
Sony partnered with AMD in their worst possible situation
While it’s never been a secret, video games are rarely cited as the key to saving AMD. However, the company survived the worst moment in its history thanks to the deal with Sony. This made the company a crucial part of the PlayStation 4 architecture. The technology company has worked closely with console manufacturers to develop the SoC (the system-on-chip that powers the device). Of course, his work was particularly important for the CPU and GPU as well.
AMD also collaborated with Microsoft on the development of the Xbox One and played just as big a role in that console’s architecture as it did the PS4.
However, this was less relevant for two reasons. The first is that – albeit in a more discreet role – they have already worked on the Xbox 360. This made cooperation a necessary continuation rather than a lifeline. Second, it should not be forgotten that the sales of Microsoft consoles were lower (around 60 million units compared to almost 120).
As for why both Sony and Microsoft chose AMD, it must be said that the company was a perfect fit for the gaming market. Consoles are still designed around SoCs today. The brand was good at working with these systems. It had the big advantage of being the only “big” company that could make both top-of-the-line CPUs and GPUs. This was explained in a thorough article by Patrick Moorhead in 2013.
The PlayStation 4 gave AMD a lot of room to maneuver
What AMD achieved with the deal with PlayStation was buying time and leeway. Lisa Su, the brand’s CEO since 2014, has tapped into these two abstract yet essential resources. Su, who had already played a key role in managing Sony’s work, led the company’s transformation to become a benchmark in processors and a worthy competitor to Nvidia in graphics controllers.
The company is also at the forefront of artificial intelligence technologies, so it is well-positioned for the future.
Experts have said that AMD will go bankrupt by 2020. Your shares will be sold for just two dollars. Today it is the 36th largest company in the world in terms of market capitalization. And it costs more than $160 to buy a share. In addition, it seems that the brand has become a long-term partner of Sony. After all, it played a role in the design of the PS5, and it looks like that will continue with the future PS6…
Source: LinkedIn, Patrick Moorhead
