AMD Wants To Make Better Cryptocurrency Mining Equipment Through A Partnership With Seven Firms

GPU manufacturer AMD is reportedly planning to develop better cryptocurrency mining equipment to take on the existing competition and it plans to do so through key partnerships.

The graphics cards manufacturer is reportedly planning to secure a bigger share of the cryptocurrency mining industry by developing better crypto mining equipment. However, the tech giant does not plan to pursue the endeavor alone. A recent AMD report revealed that the GPU maker will team up with seven firms in the endeavor.

The seven firms that AMD will partner with include ASUS, ASROCK, Sapphire,Rajintek, TUL, Biostar and MSI. The partnerships will allow the companies to offer different cryptocurrency mining rigs. They will also work towards producing mining rigs whose hash rates can be optimized to facilitate more efficient cryptocurrency mining.

AMD recently revealed in its quarterly report that its crypto-related GPU sales were negligible in the 2018 third quarter. This means that the graphics cards sales made to the cryptocurrency industry were very little compared to sales in other key areas.

“Blockchain-related GPU sales in the third quarter were negligible. In the third quarter of 2017, blockchain-related GPU sales were approximately high single digit percentage of total AMD revenue,” AMD reported.

The report also revealed that the lower revenue was probably caused by high channel inventory. Higher Ryzen processor revenue also played a role in the lower quarterly revenue. The AMD team was not saddened by the poor results but they instead believe blockchain technology presents a lot of opportunities.

Taking on ASIC manufacturers

Application-specific integrated circuit(ASIC) manufacturers have been having the upper hand as far as cryptocurrency mining equipment is concerned. They have been reporting higher mining hardware revenue compared to GPU manufacturers such as AMD and Nvidia. However, AMD’s recent announcement suggests that it wants to rival ASIC manufacturers to earn a bigger revenue share from the crypto market.

AMD recently released an introductory video in which it talks about blockchain technology and its potential applications. The company also described blockchain as a paradigm shift that will revolutionize how businesses and consumers transmit, secure and process data. The company also noted that blockchain technology will change supply chain management, facilitate business transactions and also handle financial assets in the future. AMD’s statement shows that the company is determined to invest in the technology.