Intel Corp (INTC)

[Unkwn]

There are probably terms in the business agreement that if AMD goes
out of business that all design data, mask sets, test hardware, and
test programs revert to the console guys along with necessary cross
licensing/IP rights to use the silicon they enable. Intel may have a
different opinion about the latter but I am sure $$$ could smooth
that over. smile

That's exactly the point. To my knowledge, AMD is not allowed to give away its x86 license. So, either one of the two (Microsoft or Sony) takes over AMD (bad deal I guess) or Intel draws the license, leaving the design without CPU core - doesn't make much sense either. Would Intel sell the license for a lot of money? Maybe, but I would Intel expect to just take the business and sell their own CPUs. In addition, it might be much cheaper for Sony and Microsoft to just pay AMD the amount of money for their SoCs to stay alive. That still seems to be the cheapest option for them.