List of defunct graphics chips and card companies

During the 1980s and 1990s a relatively large number of companies appeared selling primarily 2D graphics cards and later 3D. Most of those companies have subsequently disappeared, as the increasing complexity of GPUs substantially increased research and development costs. Many of these companies subsequently went bankrupt or were bought out. Intel and VIA Technologies remain as producers of primarily integrated solutions, while Matrox targets niche markets. Amongst the notable discrete graphics card vendors, ATI Technologies — acquired by AMD in 2006 and since renamed to AMD — and NVIDIA are the only ones that have lasted. During 2022 Intel entered the discrete GPU market with the Arc series and has three more generations confirmed on two year release schedules.

Defunct graphics chip makers

These companies designed graphics chips and cards.

• 3dfx – assets were acquired by Nvidia during its Chapter 11 bankruptcy^[1]
• 3Dlabs – merged with Creative Labs' personal entertainment division to form ZiiLABS
• Advanced Logic Research – acquired by Gateway Computers
• Ark Logic
• ArtX – acquired by ATI Technologies
• ATI Technologies – merged into and renamed AMD
• Avance Logic – acquired by Realtek
• BitBoys – acquired by ATI Technologies
• Chips and Technologies – acquired by Intel
• Chromatic Research – acquired by ATI Technologies
• Evans & Sutherland – acquired by Rockwell Collins
• Gemini Technology – went bankrupt, acquired by Seiko Epson to form the Vancouver Design Center
• Genoa Systems – bankrupt
• GigaPixel – acquired by 3dfx Interactive
• Headland Technology – division of LSI Logic's Standard Products Group in late 1990s, assets sold to SPEA
• iXMicro – produced video cards for Macintosh and Macintosh clones
• MOS Technology – produced the VIC and TED line of graphics chips, owned by Commodore International
• Number Nine Visual Technology – pioneer in the graphics industry, developed 1st 128-bit graphics processor; acquired by S3
• Oak Technology – acquired by Zoran Corporation
• OPTi – no longer makes graphics chips
• Paradise Systems – acquired by Western Digital, later sold off to Philips
• Primus Technology
• Radius – made graphics solutions for Apple, out of business mid-1990s
• Raycer – acquired by Apple Computer
• Real3D – acquired by Intel
• Rendition – acquired by Micron Technology
• S3 – merged with Diamond Multimedia, then sold off its core graphics division to VIA Technologies, later sold off to HTC
• Silicon Graphics Incorporated (SGI) – quit developing 3D graphics in-house in the early 2000s and bought GPUs from other companies; later went completely out of business in 2009; its assets were bought in the resulting Chapter 11 bankruptcy by Rackable Systems, which changed its name to Silicon Graphics International
• Tamarack Microelectronics – merged with IC Plus in 2002
• Trident Microsystems – sold its video chip assets to XGI in 2003, bankrupt 2012
• Tseng Labs – sold its video chip assets to ATI Technologies in 1997
• Video Seven – merged with G2 to form Headland Technology
• Weitek Corporation – maker of Power9000 brand of GPUs circa 1991-1994, bankrupt 1995
• Western Digital Imaging – combined efforts of Paradise Systems and Faraday Computing, bought by Western Digital and allowed to go out of business

Defunct graphics card makers

• Actix Systems – dissolved
• Appian Graphics – acquired by ATI Technologies
• Artist Graphics – acquired by ATI Technologies
• BFG Technologies – liquidated in August 2010
• Boca Research – acquired by Ener1
• Cardinal Technologies – bankrupt
• Hercules Computer Technology, Inc. – Hercules brand acquired by Guillemot Corporation^[2]
• Innovation Computer – dissolved
• Media Vision – bankrupt
• Nth Graphics – bankrupt
• Orchid Technology – acquired by Micronics Computers, then by Diamond Multimedia
• Paradise Systems – acquired by Western Digital, then by Philips, then de-emphasized
• SPEA AG – German vendor in late 1990s, acquired by Diamond Multimedia in 1995, then by ATI in 2001
• STB Systems – acquired by 3dfx in 1999
• Vermont Microsystems, Inc. – bankrupt
• Vectrix Corporation – bankrupt

Other

The following companies are still in operation, but no longer design PC graphics chips:

• ALi Corporation – focusing on design and manufacturing of integrated circuits for the personal computer and embedded systems
• Cirrus Logic – sold its video chip assets
• Integrated Information Technology – reverted to a video-conferencing solutions company, and then later a VoiP service provider
• PowerVR – focusing on mobile graphics technologies
• Realtek – no longer makes graphics chips
• Silicon Integrated Systems (SIS) – sold its video chip assets to XGI
• Texas Instruments – withdrew from the computer market
• UMC – became a custom-only fab and discontinued all of its standard products in the late 1990s
• XGI – focusing on embedded and mobile applications

References

This page was last edited on 11 April 2024, at 19:00