What the hell happened to 3DFX?

[DJSnairdA]

What the hell happened to 3DFX? All of a sudden they burst out with the V5 and now broke?
What's the story on this?

Thanks

 

[Spook]

Boy, you better do a search on that... there have been 100 different threads on that here since it happened...

 

[oldfart]

Just do a search on ***CONFIRMED!!*** and you will find all the info you need

 

[Snoop]

You just said what happened,

<< All of a sudden they burst out with the V5 and now broke >>



&quot;All of the sudden&quot; being the key statement. The voodoo 5 was around a year late to market. 3DFX's demise is a product of poor management, in the face of stiff competition.

 

[Ethernet]

Basicly nVidia bought some technology and brand names from 3dfx - nVidia DID NOT, I REPEAT DID NOT buy the current 3dfx market line. 3dfx is by no means dead like everyone says and will continue development of 3d accelerator chips, but will no longer manufacture them in house via STB systems.

 

[Erasmus-X]

Ethernet is correct. I think that this move was good for 3dfx. It allows them to go back to what they used to do best: design 3D chips (NOT manufacture their own cards).

 

[Volenti]

Hate to burst your bubble guys but 3dfx *is* dead, the fat lady has sung, the cows have come home, just ask Dave...

as much as I would like it to be otherwise...


I'll still keep my V5 when I upgrade (probably a nv20, not like I have a choice anymore)it'll be a kickass legacy card.

 

[Ethernet]

Ugg Volenti shuddap. I hate when people spread false information. This is almost as bad as the Intel zealots saying Athlons don't perform as well as P3's.

 

[Caitiff]

I've heard a great deal of controversy on this subject, and read some of the press releases. Basically, 3dfx has sold most of their intellectual property for upcoming chip designs to Nvidia, and Nvidia hired away around 100 of their best engineers. 3dfx will still have to support the current product lines, but only until the stockholders decide to liquidate the remains of the company. I can't see them doing anything else, seeing as how they've now gelded themselves. They don't have rights to continue developing chips, they sold that to Nvidia, and they don't have the engineering staff, the hired them away. This pretty much means to me that 3dfx is a ghost. I hate to see it, all my video cards have been Voodoo.

 

[Ethernet]

Ok let me point out some facts to you.

1.) 3dfx has about tripple the design staff that nvidia has (before they sold them off), so they still have plenty of enginneers.

2.) 3dfx did not sell the voodoo5 (vsa-100) or any current chips being produced. They sold brand names, chip technology for future chips and past technology that nvidia has never ben able to get working, like sli.

3.) 3dfx now owns %45 of the nvidia market share, this was part of the deal. nvidia also paid 3dfx 70 MILLION DOLLARS CASH MONEY/

3dfx is by all means not out, and is working on their next chip already.

 

[Michael]

Ethernet - Is there some part of 3dfx is planning on dissolving the company that you do not understand? They are closing down and have let most of their employees go.

Michael

 

[Soccerman]

actually, in truth only a few people really know what happened. press releases, and interviews state that 3dfx is pretty much gone (no new chips coming out etc). but there's a few rumblings here and there that state otherwise.

Ethernet you seem pretty convinced that you are correct, where did you hear this?

it's kind of like all those Memory companies bowing to RAMBUS's wishes. no-one here knows why exactly, but it happened..

 

[glen]

NVIDIA To Acquire 3dfx Core Graphics Assets

SANTA CLARA, CA ? DECEMBER 15, 2000 ? NVIDIA® Corporation (Nasdaq: NVDA) today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire certain graphics related assets of 3dfx Interactive (Nasdaq: TDFX), a pioneer and a recognized leader in graphics technology. These graphics related assets include, but are not limited to,

patents,
pending patent applications,
trademarks,
brand names,

and chip inventory

related to the graphics business of 3dfx ...

 

[pm]

From what I've heard 3Dfx intends to close up shop. These are based on various rumors that I've picked up from former 3Dfx employees. We all know Dave (former 3Dfx employee) is temporarily out of work. The stock price is sitting at <$0.50 a share - before the announcement, the stock was at $3+/share. The stock market seems to be under the impression that they are quitting as well.

Ethernet I believe that you are mistaken. Perhaps you might be right, but it goes directly against information that I was told by people who were working there as recently as three weeks ago - and I'm inclined to believe them since they are closer to the source. I hope that 3Dfx stays in business, and I know that if I were a stockholder I would probably vote against the action they have taken.

As to what happened, I have heard that it was mostly due to mis-management (bad decisions on chipset like the Rush, the Banshee), and poor design management which resulted in product slips (Banshee, Voodoo3, Voodoo5), and some issues relating to the foundary and demand forecasting. In the high-tech business, only the memory and hard-disk businesses seem to be more intensely competitive than the video card market. Margins are low, and windows for products are tight. There's little room for management errors.

 

[Drakino]

Interview with 3dfx's Scott Taylor, confirming that 3dfx will soon dissolve the company

Notes from a conference call confirming Nvidia owns all patents, and anything pending on graphics products from 3dfx

With the above two, that should confirm to anyone that 3dfx is dead. They sold all the rights to the Voodoo name, technology, and anything relating to Rampage or other graphics products. The only thing they held onto was the VoodooTV, and that was STB's stuff anyhow. Also, Nvidia has all the chips 3dfx has around that wern't on boards yet. Thus Nvidia could make a small run of Voodoo 4/5 cards if they really wanted to, and not 3dfx.

 

[LXi]

Ethernet, I have had enough of your insolence, apprently you are the only one thats spreading false information, particularly this one:

<<Ok let me point out some facts to you.

1.) 3dfx has about tripple the design staff that nvidia has (before they sold them off), so they still have plenty of enginneers.

2.) 3dfx did not sell the voodoo5 (vsa-100) or any current chips being produced. They sold brand names, chip technology for future chips and past technology that nvidia has never ben able to get working, like sli.

3.) 3dfx now owns %45 of the nvidia market share, this was part of the deal. nvidia also paid 3dfx 70 MILLION DOLLARS CASH MONEY/

3dfx is by all means not out, and is working on their next chip already.>>

They will NOT continue to design 3D accelerators, they've sold all their future including patents and the Voodoo name to nVidia. Rampage will NOT hit the streets, whether its under 3dfx's name or nVidia's name, the project will be killed by nVidia in favor of their own NV20 design. Their engineering team has been dismissed, most of them joined nVidia, all they have left now is tech support staff and financial staff to clean up their paper work. Plans to dissolve will proceed right after shareholder approval, and will happen in February, by then, 3dfx will be history. I dont know where you pulled that &quot;3dfx owns 45% nvidia share&quot; thing out of, there has been NO MENTION whatsoever that 3dfx shareholders will get nVidia share instead, its NOT a merge, its NOT an aquisition, its simply a buyout, nVidia picked 3dfx bones clean, and didnt have to help them with debt and support problems. Please, read the announcements on both 3dfx and nVidia's page before pulling info out of your arse.

3dfx interview.

 

[Drakino]

<< Rampage will NOT hit the streets, whether its under 3dfx's name or nVidia's name, the project will be killed by nVidia in favor of their own NV20 design. >>



I'd have to disagree with this. Rampage will probably be torn apart, and any interesting technology it had will be incorporated down the road by Nvidia. That will most likely be the 3dfx's engineers jobs, since they know so much about it. But keep in mind how long it will take to show up in an Nvidia product. 3dfx bought Gigapixel, but the rampage was far enough along not to have any new stuff added from the Gigapixel technology.

 

[LXi]

Apparently you did not understand my statement, &quot;Rampage will NOT hit the streets&quot;, thats has nothing to do with whether nVidia decide to incorporate its technologies into their future products.

 

[glen]

Ethernet,
Are you trying to run one of those stock scams I keep hearing about?
1. They are illegal.
2. No one here is that stupid.
If it was a sincere mistake, I appologize to you.

 

[Vrangel]

This is very, very simple.
3dfx exhausted $130 mil. they borrowed
and banks refused to give them more.
They were left without cash to pay bills.

Now banks will get everything Nvidia pays.
Its over.

 

[LXi]

Those money will actually be honored to shareholders before creditors, usually creditors(banks) will end up getting nothing.

 

[Michael]

LXi - You have the order reversed. Owners of Common Stock are last to get any distribution. Creditors come before them with secured creditors going first and then unsecured creditors.

Vrangel - 3dfx doesn't have that much bank debt. Their debt is/was mainly trade accounts payable and commitments such as leases (office space) and salary (employees). They couldn't line up enough financing to last through the Rampage launch until Fear was ready.

As pm said, it was a management issue. They actually would have gone under quicker except they managed to complete a secondary offering and they won a decent sized settlement off of Sega.

Michael

 

[LXi]

Its the shareholders who vote to approve the dissolve. Im betting the shareholders will have a higher chance of getting the money. And how can the creditors make them pay? They have no say in the decision making process, so 3dfx can just fold up shop and tell their creditors to come and get it because there is nothing there. How are the creditors going to sue a company that is out of business? How are they going to get money out of a company that has no money?

There is nothing they can do.

 

[Michael]

LXi - You have a very poor knowledge of business law. If 3dfx does not pay their creditors, then they can force 3dfx into bankruptcy. A court appointed trustee would then sell 3dfx's assets to the highest bidder. Creditors are paid first under law.

Look at what happened to Aureal if you want an example.

What 3dfx is doing now is a more controlled version of a bankruptcy liquidation. They'll be issuing a proxy soon enough with all the details. The reason why shareholders would vote yes is that they are likely to get a small payout vs. nothing at all.

Michael

 

[LXi]

Im no expert in business law, thats what I heard from someone who owns 3dfx stocks and my own opinion in the matter.