Russian Chipmaker Baikal Goes Bankrupt, Assets Valued at Only $5 Million

fne8w2ah@lemmy.world to Technology@lemmy.world – 378 points –
Russian Chipmaker Baikal Goes Bankrupt, Assets Valued at Only $5 Million
tomshardware.com
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The tech is apparently so outdated that it's next to worthless. What's the $5m for? Funeral arrangements?

Office equipment. Maybe some nice PCs and servers.

Doubt that. It's probably the value of the land and building.

Might as well sell it on storage wars.

Open the office door, let people take a peak, then they essentially gamble as to whether there’s anything of value and bid on it.

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You might can use their equipment for manufacturing legacy products.

The problem is: They don't actually produce anything. They are fabless.

Wait, then what DO they do?

They design the chips and the software needed to work with it. They write the code in a HDL (Hardware Definition Language) and test them in simulation runs, and when everything works, they synthesize the chips' masks from it.

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The current owners of Baikal Electronics have no plans to reclaim the patents or developments. This is perhaps because Baikal used to develop CPUs and SoCs that were subsequently produced by TSMC, and the latter can no longer work with Russian companies due to export curbs imposed by the Taiwanese government following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in late February 2022.

The future of Baikal Electronics remains uncertain. The company has not announced new processors for several years, and production was halted in February 2022 due to sanctions.

Oi, Putin, what was this about sanctions having no effect on the Russian economy?

They'll develop their own 7nm chips, with hookers and blackjack!

In fact, forget the 7nm chips!

I think the only chips produced in Russia will be potato. If they can spare some for such luxury.

This is the best summary I could come up with:


T-Platforms, the parent company of Russian chipmaker Baikal Electronics, has declared bankruptcy and is auctioning off its assets, including intellectual property related to Baikal processors, one of a few designers of CPUs and system-on-chips from Russia, reports CNews.

T-Platforms, a Russian company with ambitions to build exascale supercomputers and develop domestic CPUs, was officially declared bankrupt in October 2022.

T-Platform's bankruptcy proceedings have led to the auctioning of various assets, including the intellectual property, patents, and shares of Baikal Electronics.

The IP is related to the development of Baikal processors, which rely on the Arm and MIPS instruction set architectures.

This is perhaps because Baikal used to develop CPUs and SoCs that were subsequently produced by TSMC, and the latter can no longer work with Russian companies due to export curbs imposed by the Taiwanese government following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in late February 2022.

Despite the outdated technology and market skepticism, the auction is proceeding, and it remains to be seen who will acquire these assets and for what purpose.


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Well, China, if you want a few chip-makers, i know a few slightly-used ones that used to belong to an old lady and have only ever been used for shopping trips.

Is OK, comrades. We can still make trusty Z80.