Taiwan’s Asus (TPE:2357) and AMD (NYSE: AMD) are looking to strengthen their partnership, with AMD apparently preparing its upcoming “Zen” APU platform specifically for Asus, according to reports.
This report comes via Digitimes, which has a spotty track record for accuracy. The report — unconfirmed by both companies — says that AMD is currently giving Asus discounts on chips with the end goal of reaching 30% desktop market share. In addition AMD’s upcoming Zen APU platform, revealed in September for a 2016 release by then-CEO Rory Read, will be launched in close cooperation with Asus.
Asus’ pivot towards AMD could be because of tension with Intel (NASDAQ: INTC). Rumor has it that the relationship between the two companies has seen better days. But while Asus might want to reinforce to Intel that at the end of the day it is supposed to be vendor agnostic, AMD giving one partner too much attention might annoy its other motherboard partners.
It remains to be seen how this will play out.
