• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

VIA Technologies Announces Sale of Stake in S3 Graphics

btarunr

Editor & Senior Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 9, 2007
Messages
47,300 (7.53/day)
Location
Hyderabad, India
System Name RBMK-1000
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 5700G
Motherboard ASUS ROG Strix B450-E Gaming
Cooling DeepCool Gammax L240 V2
Memory 2x 8GB G.Skill Sniper X
Video Card(s) Palit GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER GameRock
Storage Western Digital Black NVMe 512GB
Display(s) BenQ 1440p 60 Hz 27-inch
Case Corsair Carbide 100R
Audio Device(s) ASUS SupremeFX S1220A
Power Supply Cooler Master MWE Gold 650W
Mouse ASUS ROG Strix Impact
Keyboard Gamdias Hermes E2
Software Windows 11 Pro
VIA Technologies, Inc. ("VIA") today announced the signing of definitive agreement to sell all of its shareholding in S3 Graphics Co., Ltd. ("S3 Graphics") to HTC Corporation ("HTC"). S3 Graphics is a leading provider of innovative graphics visualization technologies used in PCs, game consoles and, more recently, mobile devices.

VIA acquired S3 Graphics in 2001 with the intention to accelerate integration of graphics capabilities with its processor and chipset products. S3 Graphics became undercapitalized in 2005, and VIA introduced WTI Investment International, Ltd. ("WTI") as a new investor to help fund the operations and R&D initiatives. WTI is a private investment company, in which Cher Wang, Chairman of VIA, is a significant shareholder.

Under terms of the agreement with HTC, total consideration for all outstanding shares of S3 Graphics will be US$300 million. Of which, VIA will receive US$147 million; and WTI will receive US$153 million. VIA will recognize a capital gain of US$ $37 million and paid-in-capital of US$ 115 million in this transaction.

"The transaction would allow VIA to monetize a portion of its rich IP portfolio, yet retain its graphics capabilities to support the development and sale of its processors and chipsets," said Tzu-mu Lin, Senior Vice President and Board Director of VIA. "We wish to thank WTI for its capital contribution to support S3 Graphics since 2005."

The proposed transaction has received approvals from the boards of directors of VIA, WTI, and HTC. Subject to regulatory approvals and other customary conditions, the transaction is expected to close before end of 2011.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site
 
Joined
Jul 31, 2010
Messages
232 (0.04/day)
Processor AMD R5 3600
Motherboard ASUS X370 Prime Pro
Memory 32GB (4x8GB) Crucial Ballistix DDR4 3000Mhz C15 @ 3600Mhz C16
Video Card(s) Nvidia RTX 2060 6GB GDDR6 FE
Storage 4x 1TB SSD
Display(s) Benq XL2411Z 144Hz + Asus VS24H
Case Corsair 270R
Audio Device(s) Yamaha AG03 + Rode Procaster
Power Supply Corsair AX 650W 90+ Gold
Mouse Logitech G Pro Superlight
Keyboard KBD67 Lite R3 (Gazzew Boba U4 + AKKO Midnight)
VR HMD Valve Index
Software Windows 10 Pro 64bit
So I'm guessing HTC will start making (designing) their own ARM SOCs? Or at least want to?
 
Last edited:
Joined
May 4, 2009
Messages
1,972 (0.35/day)
Location
Bulgaria
System Name penguin
Processor R7 5700G
Motherboard Asrock B450M Pro4
Cooling Some CM tower cooler that will fit my case
Memory 4 x 8GB Kingston HyperX Fury 2666MHz
Video Card(s) IGP
Storage ADATA SU800 512GB
Display(s) 27' LG
Case Zalman
Audio Device(s) stock
Power Supply Seasonic SS-620GM
Software win10
So I'm guessing HTC will start making (designing) their own ARM SOCs? Or at least want to?

I don't think so. The SoC market is quite saturated as it is. I believe HTC only did it for the patents. 300mil is not a lot of money for them and those patents are a good future investment considering that the GPUs inside smart phones and tablets are quickly catching up to the integrated graphics on the Desktop side. That means that they'll be stepping over AMD, Nvidia and even Intel's turf soon enough and will need something to protect themselves from any misdirected lawsuits.
 
Joined
Nov 18, 2010
Messages
7,595 (1.48/day)
Location
Rīga, Latvia
System Name HELLSTAR
Processor AMD RYZEN 9 5950X
Motherboard ASUS Strix X570-E
Cooling 2x 360 + 280 rads. 3x Gentle Typhoons, 3x Phanteks T30, 2x TT T140 . EK-Quantum Momentum Monoblock.
Memory 4x8GB G.SKILL Trident Z RGB F4-4133C19D-16GTZR 14-16-12-30-44
Video Card(s) Sapphire Pulse RX 7900XTX. Water block. Crossflashed.
Storage Optane 900P[Fedora] + WD BLACK SN850X 4TB + 750 EVO 500GB + 1TB 980PRO+SN560 1TB(W11)
Display(s) Philips PHL BDM3270 + Acer XV242Y
Case Lian Li O11 Dynamic EVO
Audio Device(s) SMSL RAW-MDA1 DAC
Power Supply Fractal Design Newton R3 1000W
Mouse Razer Basilisk
Keyboard Razer BlackWidow V3 - Yellow Switch
Software FEDORA 41
Mhrmm I still do not get it... HTC and S3? No sense at all...

 
Last edited:
Joined
Oct 2, 2004
Messages
13,791 (1.87/day)
WHat this means is that HTC will hold the stake share but VIA will still market their own brand (S3). This is pretty much like VAG group for cars. Volkswagen controls everything but for example Skoda and Seat still operate on their own, under their own brand. It's not much different here. HTC will be the owner but VIA will market and develop S3 on their own. That's how i understand it.
I mean that's what a stake share means. If it wasn't this, tthen we'd be talking about division acquisitions and sales of S3 division.
 

btarunr

Editor & Senior Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 9, 2007
Messages
47,300 (7.53/day)
Location
Hyderabad, India
System Name RBMK-1000
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 5700G
Motherboard ASUS ROG Strix B450-E Gaming
Cooling DeepCool Gammax L240 V2
Memory 2x 8GB G.Skill Sniper X
Video Card(s) Palit GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER GameRock
Storage Western Digital Black NVMe 512GB
Display(s) BenQ 1440p 60 Hz 27-inch
Case Corsair Carbide 100R
Audio Device(s) ASUS SupremeFX S1220A
Power Supply Cooler Master MWE Gold 650W
Mouse ASUS ROG Strix Impact
Keyboard Gamdias Hermes E2
Software Windows 11 Pro
So I'm guessing HTC will start making (designing) their own ARM SOCs? Or at least want to?

Plausible. HTC is big enough to get an ARM license, and become a SoC designer. S3 holds a lot of graphics IP.
 
Joined
Feb 22, 2010
Messages
227 (0.04/day)
Location
Kent, UK
System Name Cannon
Processor Intel Core i7 13700K
Motherboard Asus Z690-P D4
Cooling Corsair H100i PRO XT w/ Corsair ML120 White LED x2
Memory 32GB (4x8GB) Corsair Vengeance Pro RGB 3600MHz
Video Card(s) Palit RTX 3060 Ti Dual 8GB
Storage 1TB 980 Pro w/Heatsink + 500GB 970 Evo Plus NVMe + 2TB MX500 + 500GB 850 Evo
Display(s) 34” Dell S3422DWG 3440x1440 144hz Curved + 27" Dell U2713H IPS 1440p + Dell P2219H IPS 1080p
Case Corsair 4000X RGB - 3xSP120 ELITE RGB (Front Intake) + 1xML120 White LED (Rear Exhaust)
Audio Device(s) Creative Sound Blaster Z SE + Logitech z623 2.1
Power Supply Corsair RM850x SHIFT
Mouse Logitech G602
Keyboard Corsair K70 RGB
VR HMD Oculus Quest 2
Software Windows 11 Pro x64 || Linux Mint
Benchmark Scores None. Primary uses are browsing, music, gaming (mostly Battlefield & Doom) and virtualization!
I highly doubt HTC will look to start creating their own SoCs as Qualcomm are a large stakeholder in HTC, and currently HTC only use Qualcomm chips, so that wouldnt make any Sense (no pun intended...) :laugh:
 
Joined
Mar 26, 2010
Messages
9,910 (1.84/day)
Location
Jakarta, Indonesia
System Name micropage7
Processor Intel Xeon X3470
Motherboard Gigabyte Technology Co. Ltd. P55A-UD3R (Socket 1156)
Cooling Enermax ETS-T40F
Memory Samsung 8.00GB Dual-Channel DDR3
Video Card(s) NVIDIA Quadro FX 1800
Storage V-GEN03AS18EU120GB, Seagate 2 x 1TB and Seagate 4TB
Display(s) Samsung 21 inch LCD Wide Screen
Case Icute Super 18
Audio Device(s) Auzentech X-Fi Forte
Power Supply Silverstone 600 Watt
Mouse Logitech G502
Keyboard Sades Excalibur + Taihao keycaps
Software Win 7 64-bit
Benchmark Scores Classified
yeah anyway i hope after that i still hear VIA chip. VIA although aint shine bright enough its been a while in market so i hope it will stay like that
 
Joined
May 4, 2009
Messages
1,972 (0.35/day)
Location
Bulgaria
System Name penguin
Processor R7 5700G
Motherboard Asrock B450M Pro4
Cooling Some CM tower cooler that will fit my case
Memory 4 x 8GB Kingston HyperX Fury 2666MHz
Video Card(s) IGP
Storage ADATA SU800 512GB
Display(s) 27' LG
Case Zalman
Audio Device(s) stock
Power Supply Seasonic SS-620GM
Software win10
I highly doubt HTC will look to start creating their own SoCs as Qualcomm are a large stakeholder in HTC, and currently HTC only use Qualcomm chips, so that wouldnt make any Sense (no pun intended...) :laugh:

Oh yea I forgot about that. Another reason why we won't see HTC branded SoCs :)
 
Joined
Jun 11, 2008
Messages
576 (0.10/day)
System Name Epsilon
Processor A12-9800E 35watts
Motherboard MSI Grenade AM4
Cooling Stock
Memory 2x4GB DDR4 2400 Kingston Hyper X
Video Card(s) Radeon R7 (IGP / APU)
Storage Samsung Spinpoint F1
Display(s) AOC 29" Ultra wide
Case Generic
Power Supply Antec Earthwatts 380w
Software Windows 10
Intel could buy S3 and vastly improve their graphics technology. Really. :p
 
Joined
Jan 10, 2011
Messages
1,451 (0.28/day)
Location
[Formerly] Khartoum, Sudan.
System Name 192.168.1.1~192.168.1.100
Processor AMD Ryzen5 5600G.
Motherboard Gigabyte B550m DS3H.
Cooling AMD Wraith Stealth.
Memory 16GB Crucial DDR4.
Video Card(s) Gigabyte GTX 1080 OC (Underclocked, underpowered).
Storage Samsung 980 NVME 500GB && Assortment of SSDs.
Display(s) ViewSonic VA2406-MH 75Hz
Case Bitfenix Nova Midi
Audio Device(s) On-Board.
Power Supply SeaSonic CORE GM-650.
Mouse Logitech G300s
Keyboard Kingston HyperX Alloy FPS.
VR HMD A pair of OP spectacles.
Software Ubuntu 24.04 LTS.
Benchmark Scores Me no know English. What bench mean? Bench like one sit on?
Intel could buy S3 and vastly improve their graphics technology. Really. :p

They made it clear that they have no intention of competing in the discrete graphics market. And their current IGPs aren't half bad for what they're worth. It would be great news if they changed their minds and hit the market. At least the competition would drive the prices down. wouldn't mind a 300$ GTX 580.
 

Frick

Fishfaced Nincompoop
Joined
Feb 27, 2006
Messages
19,671 (2.86/day)
Location
w
System Name Black MC in Tokyo
Processor Ryzen 5 7600
Motherboard MSI X670E Gaming Plus Wifi
Cooling Be Quiet! Pure Rock 2
Memory 2 x 16GB Corsair Vengeance @ 6000Mhz
Video Card(s) XFX 6950XT Speedster MERC 319
Storage Kingston KC3000 1TB | WD Black SN750 2TB |WD Blue 1TB x 2 | Toshiba P300 2TB | Seagate Expansion 8TB
Display(s) Samsung U32J590U 4K + BenQ GL2450HT 1080p
Case Fractal Design Define R4
Audio Device(s) Plantronics 5220, Nektar SE61 keyboard
Power Supply Corsair RM850x v3
Mouse Logitech G602
Keyboard Dell SK3205
Software Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores Rimworld 4K ready!
I love VIA, but the prices are not good. The Nano CPU was actually pretty good and often beat similiar specced Atoms, but boards are still like three times the price of equivalent Intel offerings. Also it would be good if they could make some multicores already.

Oh, and more nanoITX and smaller.
 
Joined
Mar 26, 2010
Messages
9,910 (1.84/day)
Location
Jakarta, Indonesia
System Name micropage7
Processor Intel Xeon X3470
Motherboard Gigabyte Technology Co. Ltd. P55A-UD3R (Socket 1156)
Cooling Enermax ETS-T40F
Memory Samsung 8.00GB Dual-Channel DDR3
Video Card(s) NVIDIA Quadro FX 1800
Storage V-GEN03AS18EU120GB, Seagate 2 x 1TB and Seagate 4TB
Display(s) Samsung 21 inch LCD Wide Screen
Case Icute Super 18
Audio Device(s) Auzentech X-Fi Forte
Power Supply Silverstone 600 Watt
Mouse Logitech G502
Keyboard Sades Excalibur + Taihao keycaps
Software Win 7 64-bit
Benchmark Scores Classified
dont forget the first that use mini itx form is VIA
 

Frick

Fishfaced Nincompoop
Joined
Feb 27, 2006
Messages
19,671 (2.86/day)
Location
w
System Name Black MC in Tokyo
Processor Ryzen 5 7600
Motherboard MSI X670E Gaming Plus Wifi
Cooling Be Quiet! Pure Rock 2
Memory 2 x 16GB Corsair Vengeance @ 6000Mhz
Video Card(s) XFX 6950XT Speedster MERC 319
Storage Kingston KC3000 1TB | WD Black SN750 2TB |WD Blue 1TB x 2 | Toshiba P300 2TB | Seagate Expansion 8TB
Display(s) Samsung U32J590U 4K + BenQ GL2450HT 1080p
Case Fractal Design Define R4
Audio Device(s) Plantronics 5220, Nektar SE61 keyboard
Power Supply Corsair RM850x v3
Mouse Logitech G602
Keyboard Dell SK3205
Software Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores Rimworld 4K ready!
dont forget the first that use mini itx form is VIA

Aye, but they have pretty much lost that market now imo. They're not very affordable at all unless there's some special circumstances involved. They do have some pretty rad nano/pico boards though.
 
Joined
May 21, 2008
Messages
4,113 (0.68/day)
Location
Iowa, USA
System Name THE CUBE 2.0
Processor Intel i5 13600k
Motherboard MSI MPG Z690 EDGE DDR4
Cooling Phanteks PH-TC14PE BK 2x T30-120 Fan mod mount
Memory G.Skill TridentZ 3200 MT/s C15 32GB 2x16GB
Video Card(s) Gigabyte Aorus 1080 Ti 11GB OC: Core 2GHz, Mem 5.7GHz
Storage WD SN770 250GB / 3x WD SN850X 2TB / Toshiba X300 4TB / 2x RAID1 Toshiba P300 3TB
Display(s) Samsung 49" Odyssey OLED G95SC 240Hz 5120 x 1440
Case "THE CUBE" Custom built, pure Red Alder wood
Audio Device(s) Beyerdynamic DT 880
Power Supply Corsair RM1000X
Mouse Logitech G700
Keyboard Logitech G910
Software Windows 11 Pro
They made it clear that they have no intention of competing in the discrete graphics market. And their current IGPs aren't half bad for what they're worth. It would be great news if they changed their minds and hit the market. At least the competition would drive the prices down. wouldn't mind a 300$ GTX 580.

If Intel gets in then that will make W1zz's job crazy busy :D Sure wouldn't mind some cheap gpu's.
 
Top