Intel Corp has acquired graphics technology and patents from Real3D Inc, the company admitted yesterday. Intel’s acquisition took place on October 14, apparently after the company’s parent, Lockheed Martin Corp, had withdrawn its support for the Orlando, Florida-based company and laid off a number of its employees. Neither Lockheed nor Real3D would comment, referring all inquiries to Intel – although Real3D did insist that it had not been closed down and said that it was business as usual. Intel took a minority stake in Real3D back in 1998, when it was said to have paid around $40m for a 20% share (CI No 3,237). Silicon Graphics Inc took around 10% more later in the same year (CI No 3,511).
Formed in January 1996 by Lockheed, Real3D’s aim was to bring 30 years worth of experience in 3D combat simulators and astronaut training graphics to the commercial marketplace. It started well, with contracts from Sega Ltd for arcade games and boards, and a joint development agreement with Intel and Chips & Technologies Inc (later acquired by Intel) for the design of a discrete 3D graphics chip code-named Auburn. But Auburn, eventually launched as the i740 chip in February 1998 (CI No 3,347), failed to take off and Intel canceled the product line last August after deciding to exit the discrete 3D chip market (CI No 3,728). Real3D’s own product line includes the StarFighter graphics boards, PRO-1000 high-end image generators, and a 3D laser scanning system called RealScan 3D.
Sources say that less than 30 staff were left when Intel made its move. Intel says it is rehiring Real3D staff to work as contractors, and will combine the technology and expertise with its existing graphics R&D efforts, and deploy the technology in future products. ATI Technologies Inc has reportedly also opened up an office staffed by ex-Real3D employees.
But Real3D’s appeal to Intel is also connected to its extensive intellectual property and patent portfolio, relating to real-time computer image generation and 3D graphics. Intel had already exempted itself from Real3D’s patent infringement drive by investing in the company, and Silicon Graphics resolved an already outstanding patent suit though its own investment. But Real3D also has legal suits out against 3Dfx Inc and ATI Technologies Inc, over claimed infringements of its texture mapping technologies.
At the end of last month, Lockheed Martin announced a new customer-focused organizational realignment and said it would cut the number of its lines of business down from 27 to 17 in an effort to concentrate on its core systems integration business. Eight non-core business units specializing in components are to be cut, affecting 9,000 jobs and accounting for net sales of around $1.4bn. At the end of last year, Lockheed decided not to continue funding graphics peripherals maker Calcomp Technology Inc, in which it was the majority shareholder (CI No 3,567). Calcomp went into liquidation six months later.
Meanwhile, Apple Computer Inc is rumored to have snapped up Raycer Graphic’s engineering team after the company ran out of money for the high- end graphics chipset it was developing. The company reportedly burnt through at least $15m in venture funding from Paul Allen’s Vulcan Ventures and other investors while working on its design.
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