NVIDIA sees trouble in PCs, non-iPads with lowered outlook
updated 08:50 pm EST, Tue January 24, 2012
NVIDIA GPUs to drop because of drive shortages
NVIDIA gave further clues of PC revenue decline with its own outlook warning. It expected its revenue for the quarter ending in January to be $950 million, or $166 million lower than what it had predicted in the fall. It blamed hard drive shortages for a ripple effect, where the inability to ship enough PCs meant that they either couldn't ship PCs at all or had to sacrifice a graphics card for a more expensive hard drive.
The company's mobile division had its own trouble. Shipments of the Tegra 2 chip behind most Android tablets dropped "more rapidly than expected," NVIDIA said. As a consequence, it hadn't had a proper transition to the quad-core Tegra 3.
A drop in Windows PCs has been established from dropping Microsoft Windows revenue and overall lower shipments. Poor Tegra 2 results could be an indicator that most Android tablets' sales had dropped off quickly during the holidays, either because of the 15.4 milllion iPads sold or low-end, usually TI OMAP-based Android tablets like the Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet.
Full details are expected on February 15, when NVIDIA presents its finished results.
