subway:
arcanum:
Other posters have pointed out that a semiconductor company does not build a successful business model based on selling to hobbyists.Possible, but just claiming that without bringing evidence does not weight too much.
That goes both ways. Where's your evidence that they do...?
Besides, it's obvious from their product list. Go and look at the huge list of variants/packages for AVR chips (Start here: http://www.atmel.com/products/microcontrollers/avr/default.aspx )
Count them all...all the Megas, all the Tinys, the "automotive" rated chips. I'll laugh out loud if you tell me that's aimed at hobbyists. Hobbyists would be fine with about four chip variants and DIP packaging.