nVidia – Between a Rock and A Hard Place

All the rumors are true. The end of nVidia motherboards is here, as the chipset maker fights with Intel over access to the connections of the latest CPUs, which it says will take some time. No court battle is mentioned with AMD, but the company says there is no demand for nVidia chipsets for AMD CPUs.

I certainly wonder who was consulted about that.

Nonetheless, the article that relates this information in Ars Technica also speaks of the black ops CPU project, where nVidia was rumored to be constructing their own processor to compete with Intel and AMD. It too, is gone, either because it never was, or because it is thought to be wasted effort.

This is really sad news, because there are not enough manufacturers of chipsets these days, giving us choices, as well as price competition. It used to be that there was Intel, AMD, nVidia, VIA, and smaller companies like UMC (which was swallowed by nVidia).

Many tend to forget that it was nVidia, with the first nForce chipsets, that put us on a path to better quality onboard sound. Before their advent, if you wanted anything approaching quality, you purchased a sound card, and many were either not so good, or unbearably difficult to get working alongside other peripherals, like SCSI controllers and other add-in cards.

We are already seeing a thinning of the video card offerings from nVidia partners, and, though we won’t see the complete demise, it will be more expensive to get an nVidia card, and fewer differentiations from manufacturers, as they stay with the reference design.

In a direct quote to PC Magazine, reported by Ars, nVidia spoke of what the future holds -

We’ve received a number of inquiries recently about NVIDIA’s chipset (MCP) business. We’d like to set the record straight on current and future NVIDIA chipset activity.

On Intel platforms, the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M/ION brands have enjoyed significant sales, as well as critical success. Customers including Apple, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Samsung, Acer, ASUS and others are continuing to incorporate GeForce 9400M and ION products in their current designs. There are many customers that have plans to use ION or GeForce 9400M chipsets for upcoming designs, as well.

On AMD platforms, we continue to sell a higher quantity of chipsets than AMD itself. MCP61-based platforms continue to be extremely well positioned in the entry CPU segments where AMD CPUs are most competitive vs. Intel

We will continue to innovate integrated solutions for Intel’s FSB architecture. We firmly believe that this market has a long healthy life ahead. But because of Intel’s improper claims to customers and the market that we aren’t licensed to the new DMI bus and its unfair business tactics, it is effectively impossible for us to market chipsets for future CPUs. So, until we resolve this matter in court next year, we’ll postpone further chipset investments for Intel DMI CPUs.

Despite Intel’s actions, we have innovative products that we are excited to introduce to the market in the months ahead. We know these products will bring with them some amazing breakthroughs that will surprise the industry, just as GeForce 9400M and ION have shaken up the industry this year.

We expect our MCP business for both Intel and AMD to be strong well into the future.

What nVidia says is that it will continue to make chipsets for AMD and Intel Socket 775, but don’t hold your breath for large quantities of either.

Too bad, as I’m not certain how the market will shake out for them, if their chipsets are higher in price, and are being designed for a purposely declining market. In effect, all the Intel has to do is cut off,  or severely cut back, the number of Socket 775 chips, and nVidia is effectively gone. The contradictions concerning AMD are worrisome, because actions speak louder than words, and nVidia chipsets for AMD are getting to be as rare as hen’s teeth. All I’m seeing are new boards with two-generations-removed 6150 chipsets, which are being sold at fire sale prices.

Making less money per item in a declining market is no way to stay in business.

§

•

•