3Dlabs to Refocus Its 3D Graphics Business

By DE Editors

On Friday, February 24, Creative Technology Ltd. (Milpitas, CA)announced that its 3Dlabs subsidiary will refocus its 3D graphicsbusiness on the portable hand-held device market and de-emphasize itsprofessional workstation graphics business. 3Dlabs had made a name foritself with its Wildcat and Wildcat Realizm graphics boards.

3Dlabs will transition from what the Creative Technology announcementcalled “the shrinking professional workstation graphics market” tofocus on portable hand-held devices that require intensive mediaprocessing for video, audio, and powerful 3D graphics.

The refocusing means that approximately 100 employees of 3Dlabs weredismissed. “Creative shut our doors yesterday ]Thursday],” said a former 3Dlabs employee. “Everyone inthe Huntsville ]Alabama] office is gone, savea few stragglers to wrap things up.”

As a result of the 3Dlabs refocus, Creative expects to take a one-timerestructuring charge of approximately $9 million in the current fiscalquarter and a non-cash impairment charge of approximately $25 millionfor goodwill and intangible assets relating to 3Dlabs.

The press release issued by Creative noted in “About 3Dlabs” that3Dlabs, “an innovator in professional visual processing, supplies abroad range of graphics accelerators to Computer Aided Design (CAD),Digital Content Creation (DCC), and visual simulation professionals.“Click here for more.

Sources: Press materials received from the company. Discussions with former employees of the company.