Intel Corp (INTC)

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GB, > what do you think abu's strategic plan is?

Wouter Tinus already touched upon it: #msg-32709015

I would like to add that this is similar to a criticism I heard regarding a Korean chaebol (conglomerate, e.g. Samsung, though I forgot whether it was them or not). They buy up technology companies just because it's the next big thing after steel, auto, food, etc. Then they tell the employees of said tech companies, "Do something."

In other words, there's no direction, no vision, and no leadership. Just a lot of money that can go up in smoke. But hey, Abu Dhabi can claim that they're now a player in semiconductors. And surely that's the wave of the future, especially with the global Internet, is it not?

It's hard to predict where things will go from here. Mas of course thinks that the Intel monopoly is "finished" because AMD can now draw upon a bottomless supply of oil money. But that's way too simplistic. Right off the top of my head, I can see the work culture at AMD deteriorate because they no longer have to try hard to make a profit. Alternatively, AMD could go the route of Via, especially since AMD will have to act more and more like a design house dependent on foundries to manufacture their chips.

In any case, I don't see any formula for profitability here. And in the long-term, I don't think even Abu Dhabi will have the tolerance to support a money-losing venture. Eventually they make take over AMD and/or Foundry Co., replace all of its board members, and transform the two companies from the bottom up. But that's far in the future, so who knows?

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