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NVIDIA To Exit Chipset Business

Posted by kdawson on from the told-you-so dept.

The rumor that we discussed a few months back is looking more real. Vigile writes "Once the darling of the enthusiast chipset market, NVIDIA has apparently decided to quit development of future chipsets for all platforms. This 'state of NVIDIA' editorial at PC Perspective first highlighted the fact that the company was backing away from its plans to develop a DMI-based chipset for Intel's Lynnfield processors due to legal pressure from Intel and debates over licensing restrictions. That effectively left NVIDIA out in the cold in terms of high-end chipsets, but even more interesting is the later revelation that NVIDIA has only one remaining chipset product to release, what we know as ION 2, and that it was mainly built for Apple's upcoming products. NVIDIA still plans to sell its current offerings, like MCP61 for AMD platforms and current generation ION for netbooks and nettops, but will focus solely on discrete graphics options after this final release."

2 of 185 comments (clear)

  1. WebGL by tepples · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Do we get mad at Intel?

    Yes. Intel hasn't produced a competitive GPU for its integrated graphics. This will become painfully apparent once web sites start to use JavaScript bindings for OpenGL ES.

  2. Not Intel by Groo+Wanderer · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "Do we get mad at Intel?"

    Yeah, they made Nvidia look bad by putting out chipset that met spec, survived average use, then had the gall to not hide the fact! (see http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2377) I mean really, how can Intel do business like that? And people wonder why Nvidia is bailing, then trying to hide it before Wall Street notices and downgrades them more.

    The story goes like this.
    1) Nvidia stops designing future chipsets
    2) Nvidia blames Intel for nebulous atrocity
    3) Nvidia hides the facts
    4) It gets out
    5) Nvidia admits it
    6) Wall Street notices (several analyst reports out on the subject today)
    7) Nvidia realizes that Wall Street noticed
    8) Nvidia backpedals, hard, fast, and with all due slime

    The 'denial' they are throwing around now states that they are not going to develop AMD chipsets anymore, not going to develop Intel chipsets anymore, and only going to continue selling the ones they have made. Until Intel stops making FSB chips in a few months, then it WILL be Intel's fault somehow.

    Back to the original question, can you explain how Nvidia voluntarily stopping design of AMD chipsets is Intel's fault? :)

    I saw this a year ago when I saw them stop most if not all future chipset products. I wrote it up. Nvidia denied it. A year later, they announce a stoppage for a few hours until the implications sink in. Then they deny it.

    Yup. Intel. Those bastards!

    I agree about the competition part, but this isn't sad, it was planned.

                        -Charlie