Let's Put The AMD/ATI Conspiracy Theory To Rest....

[gigabytecoin]

I have read in a few posts that AMD (the company behind the ATI chipsets that we all love so much) could possibly have created Bitcoin to enhance their market share.

According to this link, if that is true, they are doing a horrible job.

Just FYI.

[benjamindees]

AMD sells more than just GPUs.  Their share price is dropping due to Intel, not NVIDIA.

http://www.gadget-reviews.eu/2011/05/04/nvidia-losing-ground-to-amd-and-intel-in-gpu-market-share/

[wumpus]

Do they really think us few crackpots mining Bitcoin would be even a dent in the AMD total sales?

Yes, I call bullshit on this too.

[Raulo]

Do they really think us few crackpots mining Bitcoin would be even a dent in the AMD total sales?

Depends on how do you define "a dent". The Bitcoin hashrate increased by about 1000 6990 during the last 3 months. It's about 0.1% of the AMD graphic revenue during a quarter which is around $400 million. 

Of course not all of the new mining capacity went to AMD (some were old purchases, or nVidias or ArtForz's ASICs) but all 6xxx purchases and a large part of 5xxx went directly to AMD.

If the difficulty increases 10-fold, which is highly likely, the increased capacity will be 1% of the AMD GPU quarterly sales. It will start to be a non-trivial part of their market.

[phelix]

Do they really think us few crackpots mining Bitcoin would be even a dent in the AMD total sales?

Depends on how do you define "a dent". The Bitcoin hashrate increased by about 1000 6990 during the last 3 months. It's about 0.1% of the AMD graphic revenue during a quarter which is around $400 million. 

Of course not all of the new mining capacity went to AMD (some were old purchases, or nVidias or ArtForz's ASICs) but all 6xxx purchases and a large part of 5xxx went directly to AMD.

If the difficulty increases 10-fold, which is highly likely, the increased capacity will be 1% of the AMD GPU quarterly sales. It will start to be a non-trivial part of their market.

+1
and another +1 for mentioning the ASICS =)

[goatpig]

Do they really think us few crackpots mining Bitcoin would be even a dent in the AMD total sales?

Depends on how do you define "a dent". The Bitcoin hashrate increased by about 1000 6990 during the last 3 months. It's about 0.1% of the AMD graphic revenue during a quarter which is around $400 million. 

Of course not all of the new mining capacity went to AMD (some were old purchases, or nVidias or ArtForz's ASICs) but all 6xxx purchases and a large part of 5xxx went directly to AMD.

If the difficulty increases 10-fold, which is highly likely, the increased capacity will be 1% of the AMD GPU quarterly sales. It will start to be a non-trivial part of their market.

Implying nVidia won't react as soon as this turns into seizable market...

[da2ce7]

and another +1 for mentioning the ASICS =)

Unless AMD plans to make SHA256 chips...