During the 1980s and 1990s, a relatively large number of companies appeared selling primarily 2Dgraphics cards and later3D. Most of those companies have subsequently disappeared, as the increasing complexity ofGPUs 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 andNvidia are the only ones that have lasted. In 2022,Intel entered the discrete GPU market with theArc series and has three more generations confirmed on two year release schedules.
There are currently104 manufacturers in this incomplete list.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3dfx | United States | 1994 | 2001 | Bankruptcy; acquired byNvidia in 2002 | |
| 3Dlabs | United States | 1994 | 2009 | Merged with Creative Labs' personal entertainment division to formZiiLABS | |
| ALi | Taiwan | 1987 | 2006 | Acquired byNvidia | Formerly a division ofAcer, full name Acer Laboratories Incorporated |
| Alphamosaic | United Kingdom | 2000 | 2004 | Acquired byBroadcom | Original developers of theVideoCore series of discrete mobile GPUs[1] |
| AMD | United States | 2006 | Active | Current developers of theRadeon series; entered graphics chip industry after acquiringATI Technologies in 2006 | |
| Apple | United States | 2016 | Active | Entered the graphics card market in 1981; began developing GPUs with theA10 SoC in 2016 (based onImagination'sPowerVR) and introduced their first entirely in-house GPU with theA11 SoC in 2017 | |
| ARK Logic | United States | 1993 | 1999 | Bankruptcy | |
| Arm Holdings | United Kingdom | 2005 | Active | Developers of theMali andImmortalis lines of mobile GPUs | |
| ArtX | United States | 1997 | 2000 | Acquired byATI Technologies | |
| ATI Technologies | Canada | 1985 | 2006 | Acquired byAMD | Pioneering company, developers of theWonder, theMach, theRage, theAll-in-Wonder, and finally theRadeon series of graphics cards |
| Avance Logic | United States | 1991 | 2002 | Acquired byRealtek in 1995; dissolved in 2002 | |
| BitBoys | Finland | 1991 | 2009 | Acquired byATI Technologies | |
| Broadcom | United States | 2004 | Active | Current developers of theVideoCore series; entered graphics chip industry after acquiringAlphamosaic in 2004 | |
| Chips and Technologies | United States | 1984 | 1997 | Acquired byIntel | |
| Chromatic Research | United States | 1993 | 1998 | Acquired byATI Technologies | |
| Cirrus Logic | United States | 1984 | 2005 | Spun off graphics chip division to createMagnum Semiconductor, which was acquired byIDT in 2017 | |
| Evans & Sutherland | United States | 1968 | 2001 | Sold its graphics chip assets to Real Vision | Still active in thecomputer simulation business[2] |
| Gemini Technology | Canada | 1984 | 1990 | Bankruptcy; acquired bySeiko Epson to form the Vancouver Design Center | |
| Genoa Systems | United States | 1984 | 2002 | Bankruptcy | |
| GigaPixel | United States | 1997 | 2000 | Acquired by3dfx | |
| Headland Technology | United States | 1989 | 1993 | Sold its graphics chip assets to Spea Software | Formerly a division ofLSI Logic's Standard Products Group |
| Imagination Technologies | United Kingdom | 1985 | Active | Founded as VideoLogic; developers of thePowerVR series | |
| Integrated Information Technology | United States | 1987 | Unknown | Exited the graphics chip industry | Following exit became8x8, a provider ofvideoconferencing andVoIP products |
| Intel | United States | 1982 | Active | Entered the graphics chip industry after becoming thesecond source forNEC'sμPD7220 in 1982; entered the discrete GPU market with theArc series in 2022 | |
| iXMicro | United States | 1994 | 2000 | Bankruptcy | Produced graphics cards forMacintosh andMacintosh clones |
| Jingjia Micro | China | 2006 | Active | China's largest producer of GPUs | |
| Matrox | Canada | 1976 | Unknown | Exited the graphics chip industry | Once a mass manufacturer of graphics chips, now targets niche markets; still produces graphics cards based onIntel'sArc GPUs |
| Metheus | United States | 1981 | 1999 | Acquired byBarco Display Systems | |
| Moore Threads | China | 2020 | Active | Developers of the MTT series, China's first domestically produced graphics card[3] | |
| MOS Technology | United States | 1979 | 2000 | Dissolution | Produced theVIC andTED lines of graphics chips; owned byCommodore International |
| NEC | Japan | 1979 | Unknown | Exited the graphics chip industry | Produced the influentialμPD7220, widely used in 1980s microcomputers |
| NeoMagic | United States | 1993 | Active | Supplier of mobileSoCs with integrated GPUs | |
| Number Nine Visual Technology | United States | 1982 | 1999 | Acquired byS3 | Developed the first 128-bit graphics processor |
| Nvidia | United States | 1993 | Active | Developers of theGeForce series; largest producer of discrete desktop graphics chips as of 2023[update][4] | |
| Oak Technology | United States | 1987 | 2003 | Acquired byZoran | |
| OPTi | United States | 1993 | 2001 | Dissolution | |
| Paradise Systems | United States | 1982 | 1996 | Dissolution | Acquired byWestern Digital in 1986, then sold toPhilips in 1995 |
| Primus Technology | United States | 1992 | 1993 | Disappeared from the marketplace | Produced aWindows accelerator by the name P2000[5] |
| Qualcomm | United States | 2008 | Active | Developers of theAdreno series | |
| Radius | United States | 1986 | 2002 | Acquired byMedia 100 | Produced graphics solutions primarily forApple Computer |
| Raycer | United States | 1996 | 1999 | Acquired byApple Computer | |
| Real3D | United States | 1995 | 1999 | Acquired byIntel | |
| Realtek | Taiwan | 1995 | Unknown | Exited the graphics chip industry | |
| Rendition | United States | 1993 | 1998 | Acquired byMicron Technology | |
| S3 Graphics | United States | 1989 | 2000 | Merged withDiamond Multimedia, then sold off its core graphics division toVIA Technologies; later sold off toHTC | |
| Samsung Electronics | South Korea | 2022 | Active | Began employingAMD's RDNA GPU microarchitecture into theirExynosSoCs in 2022 | |
| Silicon Graphics | United States | 1981 | 2006 | Stopped developing graphics chips in-house in 2006 and started buying GPUs from other companies | Later went completely defunct in 2009; its assets were bought in the resulting Chapter 11 bankruptcy by Rackable Systems, which changed its name toSilicon Graphics International |
| Silicon Image | United States | 1995 | 2015 | Acquired byLattice Semiconductor | |
| Silicon Integrated Systems | Taiwan | 1997 | 2003 | Spun off graphics chip division to formXGI | |
| Tamarack Microelectronics | Taiwan | 1987 | 2002 | Merged with IC Plus in 2002 | |
| Texas Instruments | United States | 1979 | Unknown | Exited the graphics chip industry | |
| Trident Microsystems | United States | 1987 | 2003 | Sold its graphics chip assets toXGI in 2003 | Following exit entered bankruptcy in 2012 |
| Tseng Labs | United States | 1983 | 1998 | Sold its graphics chip assets to ATI Technologies in 1997 | |
| United Microelectronics Corporation | Taiwan | 1980 | Unknown | Exited the graphics chip industry | Following exit in the late 1990s became achip foundry |
| VIA Technologies | Taiwan | 1999 | 2011 | Exited the graphics chip industry | Entered the graphics chip industry after forming a joint venture withS3[6][7] |
| Video Seven | United States | 1984 | 1989 | Merged with G-2 Inc., a subsidiary ofLSI Logic, to formHeadland Technology | |
| Vivante Corporation | United States | 2004 | 2015 | Acquired by VeriSilicon | |
| Weitek | United States | 1991 | 1996 | Bankruptcy | Producer of the Power9000 series of GPUs from circa 1991 to 1994 |
| Western Digital Imaging | United States | 1986 | 1995 | Dissolution | Formed as the result of merger betweenParadise Systems and Verticom Inc. |
| ZiiLABS | United States | 2009 | 2012 | Assets split betweenCreative Technology andIntel |
| Name | Country of origin | Year of market entry | Year of market exit | Chips used | Fate | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acer | Taiwan | 1987 | Active | Arc,Radeon,ALi (formerly) | ||
| Actix Systems | United States | 1990 | 1998 | S3 | Dissolution | |
| Appian Graphics | United States | 1994 | 2001 | Acquired byATI Technologies | ||
| Artist Graphics | United States | 1979 | 1995 | Bankruptcy | ||
| ASRock | Taiwan | 2002 | Active | Arc,Radeon | ||
| Asus | Taiwan | 1996 | Active | GeForce,Radeon,ViRGE (formerly) | [8] | |
| BFG Technologies | United States | 2002 | 2010 | Bankruptcy | ||
| Biostar | Taiwan | 2004 | Active | Radeon,GeForce | ||
| Boca Research | United States | 1989 | 2002 | Acquired byEner1 | ||
| Cardinal Technologies | United States | 1991 | 1997 | Bankruptcy | ||
| Chaintech | Taiwan | Unknown | Unknown | GeForce | ||
| Creative Technology | Singapore | 1994 | Unknown | Various | [9] | |
| Cromemco | United States | 1975 | 1987 | Sold toDynatech Corporation | Introduced the first color graphics card formicrocomputers, theDazzler, in 1976 | |
| Diamond Multimedia | United States | 1989 | Active | Various | ||
| Elitegroup Computer Systems | Taiwan | 1992 | Active | [10] | ||
| ELSA Technology | Germany | 1989 | Active | GeForce,S3 (formerly) | [11] | |
| EVGA | United States | 1999 | 2022 | GeForce | Exited the graphics card industry; still in business | |
| Foxconn | Taiwan | 2004 | Unknown | GeForce | [12] | |
| Gainward | Taiwan | 1995 | Active | GeForce,Trio (formerly),ViRGE (formerly) | [13] | |
| GALAX | Hong Kong | 1994 | Active | GeForce | ||
| Gigabyte Technology | Taiwan | Unknown | Active | GeForce,Radeon | ||
| Hercules Computer Technology | United States | 1982 | 1998 | Acquired by Guillemot Corporation | ||
| Hightech Information System | Hong Kong | 2002 | Active | Radeon | [14] | |
| Colorful Co., Ltd. [zh] | Taiwan | 1995 | Active | GeForce | ||
| Innovation Computer | United States | 1983 | Unknown | Dissolution | ||
| Leadtek | Taiwan | 1995 | Active | GeForce,Tseng Labs (formerly) | [15] | |
| Maxsun [zh] | Taiwan | 2002 | Active | GeForce | ||
| Media Vision | United States | 1990 | 1996 | Bankruptcy | ||
| Micro-Star International | Taiwan | 1986 | Active | Radeon,GeForce | ||
| Nth Graphics | United States | 1986 | Unknown | Bankruptcy | [16] | |
| Orchid Technology | United States | 1982 | 1994 | Acquired byMicronics Computers, then byDiamond Multimedia | ||
| Palit Microsystems | Taiwan | 1988 | Active | GeForce,Trident (formerly),S3 (formerly) | ||
| PNY Technologies | United States | 2001 | Active | GeForce | [17] | |
| Point of View | Netherlands | 2000 | Active | |||
| PowerColor | Taiwan | 1997 | Active | Radeon | ||
| Quantum3D | United States | 1997 | Active | |||
| Sapphire Technology | Hong Kong | 2001 | Active | Radeon | ||
| Sparkle Computer | Taiwan | 2000 | Active | Arc,GeForce (formerly) | [18] | |
| Spea Software | Germany | 1985 | 1995 | Acquired byDiamond Multimedia in 1995, then byATI Technologies in 2001 | ||
| STB Systems | United States | 1981 | 1999 | Acquired by3dfx | ||
| Vectrix | United States | 1980 | 1993 | Bankruptcy | ||
| Vermont Microsystems | United States | 1982 | Unknown | Bankruptcy | ||
| XFX | United States | 2002 | Active | Radeon,GeForce | ||
| Zotac | Hong Kong | 2006 | Active | GeForce |
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.