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Nvidia Corp. has sent comments to some media outlets claiming that it has no plans to quit chipset business and that the company's positions on the market are very strong right now. But while there may be no intentions to quit chipset business immediately, once microprocessors with integrated graphics cores show up, there will hardly be a substantial part of the market left for Nvidia.
"The story on Digitimes is completely groundless. We have no intention of getting out of the chipset business. In fact, our MCP business is as strong as it ever has been for both AMD and Intel platforms. [...] We're looking forward to bring new and very exciting MCP products to the market for both AMD and Intel platforms," Bryan Del Rizzo, platform products PR manager at Nvidia, is reported to have said.
Late last week it transpired that Nvidia planned to quit chipset business and that mainboard manufacturers were reluctant to make high-end platforms based on chipsets from the Santa Clara, California-based company.
Based on unofficial information, Nvidia does not have a license to develop and sell chipsets compatible with Quick Path Interconnect (QPI) bus that is used by microprocessors based on Intel Nehalem micro-architecture. With no license to create core-logic sets for future processors it hardly makes sense for Nvidia to continue with its chipset business, even though it still commands a substantial part of AMD-compatible chipsets market.
Both Advanced Micro Devices and Intel Corp. plan to release their microprocessors featuring integrated graphics cores, which automatically slashes the need for core-logic sets that contain built-in graphics processing units. As a result, the market of chipsets will shrink for third-party developers, including Nvidia, SiS and Via Technologies.
According to Tim Luke, an analyst with Lehman Brothers, 17% - 18% of Nvidia's revenue, or $195.5 - $207 million in the most recent quarter, come from its core-logic business.
