Sunnyvale-based maths and graphics accelerator company Weitek Corp has been having a tough time over the past two or three years – improving but still loss-making figures are in page seven – but the company now has some heavyweight help in its programme to embrace and grow in the brave new world of multimedia. Samsung Electronics Co Ltd has signed Weitek to a technology exchange agreement for joint development of a family of advanced multimedia integrated circuits – and will provide wafer fabrication capacity for Weitek proprietary products, as well as for all jointly developed products. Samsung and Weitek will co-define, develop and introduce next generation multimedia chips for the personal computer market, and the two will share complete marketing and sales rights for the jointly developed products. The agreement does not involve any investment by Samsung in Weitek at this stage, but could be good news for Samsung’s major US charge, AST Research Inc, as it strives to stay a step ahead of the game in the cut-throat personal computer market.
