During the 1980s and 1990s, a relatively large number of companies appeared selling primarily 2D graphics cards and later 3D. Most of those companies have subsequently disappeared, as the increasing complexity of GPUs substantially increased research and development costs. Many of these companies subsequently went bankrupt or were bought out. Amongst the notable discrete graphics card vendors, AMD and Nvidia are the only ones that have lasted. In 2022, Intel entered the discrete GPU market with the Arc series and has three more generations confirmed on two year release schedules.

There are currently 106 manufacturers in this incomplete list.

Graphics chip makers

Many of the companies listed below also design(ed) graphics cards.

Name Country of origin Year of market entry Year of market exit Fate Notes
3dfxUnited States19942001Bankruptcy; acquired by Nvidia in 2002
3DlabsUnited States19942009Merged with Creative Labs' personal entertainment division to form ZiiLABS
ALiTaiwan19872006Acquired by NvidiaFormerly a division of Acer, full name Acer Laboratories Incorporated
AlphamosaicUnited Kingdom20002004Acquired by BroadcomOriginal developers of the VideoCore series of discrete mobile GPUs[1]
AMDUnited States2006ActiveCurrent developers of the Radeon series; entered graphics chip industry after acquiring ATI Technologies in 2006
AppleUnited States2016ActiveEntered the graphics card market in 1981; began developing GPUs with the A10 SoC in 2016 (based on Imagination's PowerVR) and introduced their first entirely in-house GPU with the A11 SoC in 2017
ARK LogicUnited States19931999Bankruptcy
Arm HoldingsUnited Kingdom2005ActiveDevelopers of the Mali and Immortalis lines of mobile GPUs
ArtXUnited States19972000Acquired by ATI Technologies
ATI TechnologiesCanada19852006Acquired by AMDPioneering company, developers of the Wonder, the Mach, the Rage, the All-in-Wonder, and finally the Radeon series of graphics cards
Avance LogicUnited States19912002Acquired by Realtek in 1995; dissolved in 2002
BitBoysFinland19912009Acquired by ATI Technologies
BroadcomUnited States2004ActiveCurrent developers of the VideoCore series; entered graphics chip industry after acquiring Alphamosaic in 2004
Chips and TechnologiesUnited States19841997Acquired by Intel
Chromatic ResearchUnited States19931998Acquired by ATI Technologies
Cirrus LogicUnited States19842005Spun off graphics chip division to create Magnum Semiconductor, which was acquired by IDT in 2017
Evans & SutherlandUnited States19682001Sold its graphics chip assets to Real VisionStill active in the computer simulation business[2]
Gemini TechnologyCanada19841990Bankruptcy; acquired by Seiko Epson to form the Vancouver Design Center
Genoa SystemsUnited States19842002Bankruptcy
GigaPixelUnited States19972000Acquired by 3dfx
Headland TechnologyUnited States19891993Sold its graphics chip assets to Spea SoftwareFormerly a division of LSI Logic's Standard Products Group
Imagination TechnologiesUnited Kingdom1985ActiveFounded as VideoLogic; developers of the PowerVR series
Integrated Information TechnologyUnited States1987UnknownExited the graphics chip industryFollowing exit became 8x8, a provider of videoconferencing and VoIP products
IntelUnited States1982ActiveEntered the graphics chip industry after becoming the second source for NEC's μPD7220 in 1982; entered the discrete GPU market with the Arc series in 2022
iXMicroUnited States19942000BankruptcyProduced graphics cards for Macintosh and Macintosh clones
Jingjia MicroChina2006ActiveChina's largest producer of GPUs
MatroxCanada1976UnknownExited the graphics chip industryOnce a mass manufacturer of graphics chips, now targets niche markets; still produces graphics cards based on Intel's Arc GPUs
MetheusUnited States19811999Acquired by Barco Display Systems
Moore ThreadsChina2020ActiveDevelopers of the MTT series, China's first domestically produced graphics card[3]
MOS TechnologyUnited States19792000DissolutionProduced the VIC and TED lines of graphics chips; owned by Commodore International
NECJapan1979UnknownExited the graphics chip industryProduced the influential μPD7220, widely used in 1980s microcomputers
NeoMagicUnited States1993ActiveSupplier of mobile SoCs with integrated GPUs
Number Nine Visual TechnologyUnited States19821999Acquired by S3Developed the first 128-bit graphics processor
NvidiaUnited States1993ActiveDevelopers of the GeForce series; largest producer of discrete desktop graphics chips as of 2023[4]
Oak TechnologyUnited States19872003Acquired by Zoran
OPTiUnited States19932001Dissolution
Paradise SystemsUnited States19821996DissolutionAcquired by Western Digital in 1986, then sold to Philips in 1995
Primus TechnologyUnited States19921993Disappeared from the marketplaceProduced a Windows accelerator by the name P2000[5]
QualcommUnited States2008ActiveDevelopers of the Adreno series
RadiusUnited States19862002Acquired by Media 100Produced graphics solutions primarily for Apple Computer
RaycerUnited States19961999Acquired by Apple Computer
Real3DUnited States19951999Acquired by Intel
RealtekTaiwan1995UnknownExited the graphics chip industry
RenditionUnited States19931998Acquired by Micron Technology
S3 GraphicsUnited States19892000Merged with Diamond Multimedia, then sold off its core graphics division to VIA Technologies; later sold off to HTC
Samsung ElectronicsSouth Korea2022ActiveBegan employing AMD's RDNA GPU microarchitecture into their Exynos SoCs in 2022
Silicon GraphicsUnited States19812006Stopped developing graphics chips in-house in 2006 and started buying GPUs from other companiesLater went completely defunct in 2009; its assets were bought in the resulting Chapter 11 bankruptcy by Rackable Systems, which changed its name to Silicon Graphics International
Silicon ImageUnited States19952015Acquired by Lattice Semiconductor
Silicon Integrated SystemsTaiwan19972003Spun off graphics chip division to form XGI
Tamarack MicroelectronicsTaiwan19872002Merged with IC Plus in 2002
Texas InstrumentsUnited States1979UnknownExited the graphics chip industry
Trident MicrosystemsUnited States19872003Sold its graphics chip assets to XGI in 2003Following exit entered bankruptcy in 2012
Tseng LabsUnited States19831998Sold its graphics chip assets to ATI Technologies in 1997
United Microelectronics CorporationTaiwan1980UnknownExited the graphics chip industryFollowing exit in the late 1990s became a chip foundry
VIA TechnologiesTaiwan19992011Exited the graphics chip industryEntered the graphics chip industry after forming a joint venture with S3[6][7]
Video SevenUnited States19841989Merged with G-2 Inc., a subsidiary of LSI Logic, to form Headland Technology
Vivante CorporationUnited States20042015Acquired by VeriSilicon
WeitekUnited States19911996BankruptcyProducer of the Power9000 series of GPUs from circa 1991 to 1994
Western Digital ImagingUnited States19861995DissolutionFormed as the result of merger between Paradise Systems and Verticom Inc.
ZiiLABSUnited States20092012Assets split between Creative Technology and Intel

Graphics card makers

Name Country of origin Year of market entry Year of market exit Chips used Fate Notes
AcerTaiwan1987ActiveArc, Radeon, ALi (formerly)
Actix SystemsUnited States19901998S3Dissolution
Appian GraphicsUnited States19942001Acquired by ATI Technologies
Artist GraphicsUnited States19791995Bankruptcy
ASRockTaiwan2002ActiveArc, Radeon
AsusTaiwan1996ActiveGeForce, Radeon, ViRGE (formerly)[8]
BFG TechnologiesUnited States20022010Bankruptcy
BiostarTaiwan2004ActiveRadeon, GeForce
Boca ResearchUnited States19892002Acquired by Ener1
Cardinal TechnologiesUnited States19911997Bankruptcy
ChaintechTaiwanUnknownUnknownGeForce
Creative TechnologySingapore1994UnknownVarious[9]
CromemcoUnited States19751987Sold to Dynatech CorporationIntroduced the first color graphics card for microcomputers, the Dazzler, in 1976
Diamond MultimediaUnited States1989ActiveVarious
Elitegroup Computer SystemsTaiwan1992Active[10]
ELSA TechnologyGermany1989ActiveGeForce, S3 (formerly)[11]
EVGAUnited States19992022GeForceExited the graphics card industry; still in business
FoxconnTaiwan2004UnknownGeForce[12]
GainwardTaiwan1995ActiveGeForce, Trio (formerly), ViRGE (formerly)[13]
GALAXHong Kong1994ActiveGeForce
Gigabyte TechnologyTaiwanUnknownActiveGeForce, Radeon
GUNNIRChinaUnknownActiveArc
Hercules Computer TechnologyUnited States19821998Acquired by Guillemot Corporation
Hightech Information SystemHong Kong2002ActiveRadeon[14]
Colorful Co., Ltd. [zh]China1995ActiveGeForce
Innovation ComputerUnited States1983UnknownDissolution
LeadtekTaiwan1995ActiveGeForce, Tseng Labs (formerly)[15]
Manli [zh]Hong Kong2001ActiveGeForce[16]
Maxsun [zh]Taiwan2002ActiveArc, Radeon, GeForce
Media VisionUnited States19901996Bankruptcy
Micro-Star InternationalTaiwan1986ActiveRadeon, GeForce
Nth GraphicsUnited States1986UnknownBankruptcy[17]
Orchid TechnologyUnited States19821994Acquired by Micronics Computers, then by Diamond Multimedia
Palit MicrosystemsTaiwan1988ActiveGeForce, Trident (formerly), S3 (formerly)
PNY TechnologiesUnited States2001ActiveGeForce[18]
Point of ViewNetherlands2000ActiveGeForce
PowerColorTaiwan1997ActiveRadeon
Quantum3DUnited States1997Active
Sapphire TechnologyHong Kong2001ActiveRadeon
Sparkle ComputerTaiwan2000ActiveArc, GeForce (formerly)[19]
Spea SoftwareGermany19851995Acquired by Diamond Multimedia in 1995, then by ATI Technologies in 2001
STB SystemsUnited States19811999Acquired by 3dfx
VectrixUnited States19801993Bankruptcy
Vermont MicrosystemsUnited States1982UnknownBankruptcy
XFXUnited States2002ActiveRadeon, GeForce (formerly)
ZotacHong Kong2006ActiveGeForce

References

  1. ↑ "Broadcom Agrees to Buy Alphamosaic". Los Angeles Times. September 21, 2004. Archived from the original on February 3, 2024. Retrieved February 3, 2024.
  2. ↑ Donelan, Jenny (October 2001). "Evans & Sutherland Computer Corp". Computer Graphics World. 24 (10). PennWell: 10 – via Gale. Evans & Sutherland Computer Corp. (Salt Lake City, UT) has announced that it will sell its REALimage business unit, which makes semiconductor chips for advanced graphics and video applications, to the Japanese firm of Real Vision. The sale has a maximum value of $12 million.
  3. ↑ Tyson, Mark (March 30, 2022). "China's First Domestic GPU Announced with 1080p League of Legends Demo". Tom's Hardware. Future Publishing.
  4. ↑ Shilov, Anton (September 6, 2023). "GPU Market 'Healthy and vibrant' in Q2 2023: Report". Tom's Hardware. Archived from the original on March 14, 2024. Retrieved March 14, 2024.
  5. ↑ O'Brien, Bill (December 1992). "Celerite Galaxy 2000". Computer Shopper. 12 (12). SX2 Media Labs: 178 – via Gale.
  6. ↑ Ristelhueber, Robert (April 12, 1999). "S3-Via Deal to Integrate Graphics, Logic". Electronic News. 45 (15). Sage Publications: 2 – via Gale.
  7. ↑ Brown, Richard (July 6, 2011). "VIA Technologies Announces Sale of Stake in S3 Graphics". Business Wire.
  8. ↑ "ASUS Graphics Card 20th Anniversary". Asus.com. ASUSTeK Computer. 2016.
  9. ↑ Hottinger, Katie (April 25, 1994). "Cirrus buys Austek patents, 3Dlabs teams with Creative in 3D graphics". Electronic News. 40 (2011). Sage Publications: 8 – via Gale.
  10. ↑ Staff writer (September 21, 1992). "Elitegroup graphics card supports 16.7M colors". PC Week. 9 (38). Ziff-Davis: 34 – via Gale.
  11. ↑ Haefeker, Walter; Donna Fritz (December 4, 1989). "ELSA GmbH announces its new U.S. operation, ELSA America, to provide higher performance graphics capability". PR Newswire – via Gale.
  12. ↑ Staff writer (July 1, 2004). "Nvidia Debuts MXM Graphics Interface for Notebooks". Computer Workstations. 17 (7). Worldwide Videotex – via Gale.
  13. ↑ Brown, Bruce (July 1996). "Go much faster for a lot less". Computer Shopper. 16 (7). SX2 Media Labs: 367 et seq – via Gale.
  14. ↑ "ATI Technologies Inc. Expands Add-In-Board Business with Two New Strategic Relationships". Market News Publishing. COMTEX News Network. March 12, 2002 – via Gale.
  15. ↑ Staff writer (September 1995). "WinFast T230 Pro with LeadPhone". PC World. 13 (9). IDG Communications: 90 – via Gale.
  16. ↑ "About Manli-Manli". Manli Technology Group. Retrieved May 25, 2026.
  17. ↑ Estill, Lyle (January 1990). "Unfree Enterprise". Journal of Business Ethics. 9 (1). Springer Nature: 39–43 [39]. doi:10.1007/BF00382562. JSTOR 25072002.
  18. ↑ Staff writer (October 1, 2001). "NVIDIA GeForce Titanium Series of GPUs Selected by Top PC and Add-In-Card OEMS". PR Newswire – via Gale.
  19. ↑ Jenkins, Jason (May 2001). "Party like it's 999£". PC Direct. ZDNet: 154 et seq – via Gale.
allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_graphics_chips_and_card_companies