{{Unreferenced, date=June 2010 During the 1980s and 1990s a relatively large number of companies appeared selling primarily 2D

graphics card A graphics card (also called a video card, display card, graphics adapter, VGA card/VGA, video adapter, display adapter, or mistakenly GPU) is an expansion card which generates a feed of output images to a display device, such as a computer mo ...

s and later 3D. Most of those companies have subsequently disappeared, as the increasing complexity of

GPU A graphics processing unit (GPU) is a specialized electronic circuit designed to manipulate and alter memory to accelerate the creation of images in a frame buffer intended for output to a display device. GPUs are used in embedded systems, mobi ...

s substantially increased research and development costs. Many of these companies subsequently went bankrupt or were bought out.

Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 ser ...

and

VIA Technologies VIA Technologies Inc. (), is a Taiwanese manufacturer of integrated circuits, mainly motherboard chipsets, CPUs, and memory. It was the world's largest independent manufacturer of motherboard chipsets. As a fabless semiconductor company, VIA ...

remain as producers of primarily integrated solutions, while Matrox targets niche markets. Amongst the notable discrete graphics card vendors,

ATI Technologies ATI Technologies Inc. (commonly called ATI) was a Canadian semiconductor technology corporation based in Markham, Ontario, that specialized in the development of graphics processing units and chipsets. Founded in 1985 as Array Technology Inc., ...

— acquired by AMD in 2006 and since renamed to AMD — and

NVIDIA Nvidia CorporationOfficially written as NVIDIA and stylized in its logo as VIDIA with the lowercase "n" the same height as the uppercase "VIDIA"; formerly stylized as VIDIA with a large italicized lowercase "n" on products from the mid 1990s to ...

are the only ones that have lasted.

Defunct graphics chip makers

These companies designed graphics chips and cards. *

3dfx Interactive 3dfx Interactive was an American technology company headquartered in San Jose, California, founded in 1994, that specialized in the manufacturing of 3D graphics processing units, and later, video cards. It was a pioneer in the field from the l ...

- assets were acquired by

during its Chapter 11 bankruptcy *

3Dlabs 3Dlabs was a fabless semiconductor company. It was founded in 1994 with headquarters in San Jose, California. It originally developed the GLINT and PERMEDIA high-end graphics chip technology, that was used on many of the world's leading computer g ...

- merged with Creative Labs' personal entertainment division to form

ZiiLABS ZiiLABS is a global electronics company, producing a line of media-oriented application processors, reference platforms and enabling software, in a series of platforms named ZMS. Its products are found in low-power consumer electronics and embedded ...

Advanced Logic Research Advanced Logic Research, Inc. (ALR), was an American computer company founded in 1984 in Irvine, California by Gene Lu. The company marketed IBM PC compatibles across that standard's evolution until 1997, when it was acquired by Gateway 2000. AL ...

– acquired by

Gateway Computers Gateway, Inc., previously Gateway 2000, is an American computer hardware company. The company developed, manufactured, supported, and marketed a wide range of personal computers, computer monitors, servers, and computer accessories. It was acqui ...

*Ark Logic *

ArtX ArtX was a company formed in 1997 by a group of twenty former Silicon Graphics, Inc. engineers, who had worked on the Nintendo 64's graphics chip. The company was focused on delivering a PC graphics chip that was both high performance and cost ef ...

- acquired by

- merged into and renamed AMD * Avance Logic - acquired by

Realtek Realtek Semiconductor Corp () is a fabless semiconductor company situated in the Hsinchu Science Park, Hsinchu, Taiwan. Realtek was founded in October 1987 and subsequently listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange in 1998. Realtek currently manufa ...

* BitBoys - acquired by ATI Technologies *

Chips and Technologies Chips and Technologies (C&T), founded in Milpitas, California in December 1984 by Gordon A. Campbell and Dado Banatao, was an early fabless semiconductor company. Its first product, announced September 1985, was a four chip EGA chipset that ...

- acquired by

* Chromatic Research - acquired by ATI Technologies *

Evans & Sutherland Evans & Sutherland is a pioneering American computer firm in the computer graphics field. Its current products are used in digital projection environments like planetariums. Its simulation business, which it sold to Rockwell Collins, sold products ...

- acquired by Rockwell Collins *Gemini Technology - went bankrupt, acquired by

Seiko Epson Seiko Epson Corporation, or simply known as Epson, is a Japanese multinational electronics company and one of the world's largest manufacturers of computer printers and information- and imaging-related equipment. Headquartered in Suwa, Nagano ...

to form the Vancouver Design Center *GigaPixel - acquired by

*Headland Technologies - division of LSI Logic's Standard Products Group in late 1990s, assets sold to SPEA * IXMICRO - produced video cards for

Macintosh The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and ...

and

Macintosh clone A Macintosh clone, also known as a Clonintosh (a portmanteau of " Clone" and "Macintosh"), is a computer running the Mac OS operating system that was not produced by Apple Inc. The earliest Mac clones were based on emulators and reverse-engineere ...

s *

MOS Technology MOS Technology, Inc. ("MOS" being short for Metal Oxide Semiconductor), later known as CSG (Commodore Semiconductor Group) and GMT Microelectronics, was a semiconductor design and fabrication company based in Audubon, Pennsylvania. It is mos ...

- produced the VIC and TED line of graphics chips, owned by

Commodore International Commodore International (other names include Commodore International Limited) was an American home computer and electronics manufacturer founded by Jack Tramiel. Commodore International (CI), along with its subsidiary Commodore Business Mac ...

Number Nine Visual Technology Number Nine Visual Technology Corporation was a manufacturer of video graphics chips and cards from 1982 to 1999. Number Nine developed the first 128-bit graphics processor (the Imagine 128), as well as the first 256-color (8-bit) and 16.8 m ...

(originally named Number Nine Computer Corp.) - pioneer in the graphics industry, developed 1st 128-bit graphics processor; acquired by S3 *

Oak Technology Oak Technology was an American supplier of semiconductor chips for sound cards, graphics cards and optical storage devices such as CD-ROM, CD-RW and DVD. It achieved success with optical storage chips and its stock price increased substantially ...

- acquired by Zoran Corporation *

OPTi Inc. OPTi Inc. was a fabless semiconductor company based in Milpitas, California, that primarily manufactured chipsets for personal computers. The company dissolved in 2001 and transferred its assets to the unaffiliated non-practicing entity OPTi ...

- no longer makes graphics chips *Paradise Systems - acquired by

Western Digital Western Digital Corporation (WDC, commonly known as Western Digital or WD) is an American computer drive manufacturer and data storage company, headquartered in San Jose, California. It designs, manufactures and sells data technology produ ...

, later sold off to

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters is ...

*Primus Technology * Radius Inc. - made graphics solutions for Apple, out of business mid-1990s *Raycer - acquired by

Apple Computer Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company ...

Real3D Real3D, Inc. was a maker of arcade graphics boards, a spin-off from Lockheed Martin. The company made several 3D hardware designs that were used by Sega, the most widely used being the graphics hardware in the Sega Model 2 and Model 3 arcade sy ...

- acquired by

* Rendition - acquired by

Micron Technology Micron Technology, Inc. is an American producer of computer memory and computer data storage including dynamic random-access memory, flash memory, and USB flash drives. It is headquartered in Boise, Idaho. Its consumer products, includin ...

*S3 - sold off its core graphics division to

S3 Graphics S3 Graphics, Ltd (commonly referred to as S3) was an American computer graphics company. The company sold the Trio, ViRGE, Savage 3D, and Chrome series of graphics processors. Struggling against competition from 3dfx Interactive, ATI and Nvid ...

* Silicon Graphics Incorporated (SGI) - quit developing 3D graphics in-house in the early 2000s and bought GPUs from other companies; later went completely out of business in 2009; its assets were bought in the resulting Chapter 11 bankruptcy by Rackable Systems, which changed its name to

Silicon Graphics International Silicon Graphics International Corp. (SGI; formerly Rackable Systems, Inc.) was an American manufacturer of computer hardware and software, including high-performance computing systems, x86-based servers for datacenter deployment, and visualiz ...

Tamarack Microelectronics Tamarack Microelectronics was a designer and manufacturer of mixed-signal integrated circuits, primarily Ethernet Ethernet () is a family of wired computer networking technologies commonly used in local area networks (LAN), metropolitan are ...

- merged with IC Plus in 2002 *

Trident Microsystems Trident Microsystems was a fabless semiconductor company that in the 1990s, it became a well-known supplier of integrated circuits (commonly called "chips") for video display controllers used in video cards and on motherboards for desktop PCs ...

- sold its video chip assets to XGI in 2003, bankrupt 2012 *

Tseng Labs Tseng Laboratories, Inc. (also known as Tseng Labs or TLI) was a maker of graphics chips and controllers for IBM PC compatibles, based in Newtown, Pennsylvania, and founded by Jack Hsiao Nan Tseng. Founded in 1983, Tseng Labs' first product wa ...

- sold its video chip assets to ATI Technologies in 1997 *Video 7 - merged with G2 to form Headland Technologies * Weitek Corporation - maker of Power9000 brand of GPUs circa 1991-1994, bankrupt 1995 *Western Digital Imaging - combined efforts of Paradise Systems and Faraday Computing, bought by

and allowed to go out of business

Defunct graphics card makers

* Appian Graphics - acquired by ATI Technologies *Artist Graphics - acquired by ATI Technologies *

BFG Technologies BFG Technologies was a privately held U.S.-based supplier of power supplies and video cards based on Nvidia graphics technology and a manufacturer of high-end gaming/home theater computer systems. BFG Technologies branded products were available ...

- liquidated in August 2010 *Boca Research - acquired by Zoom Telephonics *Cardinal Technologies - bankrupt *Genoa Systems - bankrupt *

Hercules Computer Technology, Inc. Hercules Computer Technology, Inc. was a manufacturer of computer peripherals for PCs and Macs founded in 1982. History Hercules was formed in 1982 in Hercules, California, by Van Suwannukul and Kevin Jenkins and was one of the major graph ...

- acquired by ELSA Technology, Inc., then by Guillemot Corporation * Media Vision - bankrupt *Nth Graphics - bankrupt * Orchid Technology - acquired by Micronics Computers, then by Diamond Multimedia *Paradise Systems - acquired by

, then by

, then de-emphasized *SPEA AG - German vendor in late 1990s, acquired by Diamond Multimedia in 1995, then by ATI in 2001 *STB Systems - acquired by

in 1999 *Vermont Microsystems, Incorporated (VMI)

Other

The following companies are still in operation, but no longer design PC graphics chips: *

Acer Laboratories Incorporated ALi Corporation (also known as Acer Laboratories Incorporated or Acer Labs Inc., and commonly known as ALi) is a major designer and manufacturer of embedded systems integrated circuits, and a former manufacturer of personal computer integrated c ...

- focusing on design and manufacturing of integrated circuits for the personal computer and embedded systems *

Cirrus Logic Cirrus Logic Inc. is an American fabless semiconductor supplier that specializes in analog, mixed-signal, and audio DSP integrated circuits (ICs). Since 1998, the company's headquarters have been in Austin, Texas. The company's audio proces ...

- sold its video chip assets *

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the ...

- no longer manufactures graphics cards * IIT Corp - reverted to a video-conferencing solutions company, and then later a

VOIP Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), also called IP telephony, is a method and group of technologies for the delivery of voice communications and multimedia sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet. The terms Internet t ...

service provider *

PowerVR PowerVR is a division of Imagination Technologies (formerly VideoLogic) that develops hardware and software for 2D and 3D rendering, and for video encoding, decoding, associated image processing and DirectX, OpenGL ES, OpenVG, and OpenCL accel ...

- focusing on mobile graphics technologies *

- no longer makes graphics chips *

Silicon Integrated Systems Silicon Integrated Systems (SiS; ) is a company that manufactures, among other things, motherboard chipsets. The company was founded in 1987 in Hsinchu Science Park, Taiwan. Business In the late 1990s, SiS made the decision to invest in their ow ...

(SIS) - sold its video chip assets to XGI *

Texas Instruments Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) is an American technology company headquartered in Dallas, Texas, that designs and manufactures semiconductors and various integrated circuits, which it sells to electronics designers and manufacturers globa ...

- withdrew from the computer market * UMC - became a custom-only fab and discontinued all of its standard products in the late 1990s * XGI - focusing on embedded and mobile applications * Defunct graphics chips and card companies Graphics chips and card companies Graphics hardware