Introduction

Conference Call

3dfx's acquisition of GigaPixel caught many of us by surprise. Some may see it as great merger that will open up enormously lucrative markets for the new unified company. Others might call it a desperate move made by two companies ready to get out of the highly competitive PC graphics market.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to listen in on the NYC 3dfx/GigaPixel conference call with 3dfx President and CEO Dr. Alex Leupp, GigaPixel President and CEO George Haber, and 3dfx Director Peter Wicher. The call was primarily a question and answer session since 3dfx and GigaPixel had the merger presentation conference call the day before. We've included the 3dfx GigaPixel acquisition press release at the end of this article.

Caught without a recording device, I tried to write down a few of the more interesting questions and answers on the fly. Almost everything here is paraphrased, and any and all errors are mine. Please do not take any of the following as direct quotations. Some questions and answers may have been shortened. A couple questions have also been omitted due to transcriber disinterest.

Questions are in bold answers are in normal font.

Questions and Answers

How do you expect this acquisition to help [3dfx's] diversification plan in the future?

Alex: The current roadmap for 3dfx is tailored for the high end PC market. GigaPixel's technology will allow us to address the low-power environments. We're going to be the leader in what we call "visual communication." There are going to be more and more consumer products with graphics technology, and 3dfx wants to enable those products.

When do you expect to see any products out with the GigaPixel core?

Alex: We will not see products with the new GigaPixel technology for 8 to 12 months.

Will the acquisition of GigaPixel have any affect on the upcoming Voodoo4/5 launch?

Alex: No, absolutely not. The present products are going to roll out independent of the GigaPixel acquisition.

Could you make a product that scales like the VSA-100 while using GigaPixel technology?

George: Absolutely, absolutely. How much should we pay you for asking that question? *laughter*

How long had 3dfx and GigaPixel been in talks?

Alex: We have been in contact with GigaPixel and their technology for quite a while. First as a possible licensee, but the closer we talked and after we saw that GigaPixel had actual silicon, we realized that there was more than just technology and tremendous IP. From that point, it took about 2 months of serious discussions.

Will you be able to use GigaPixel's technology with the Rampage or is it too late?

Alex: The Rampage is too far down our pipeline. It does not make sense to stop and change, but we will look at anything after the Rampage.

George: Whatever gets sped-up by adding GigaPixel technology, we'll do. Whatever gets slowed down, we won't do.