Nvidia has traditionally specialized in graphics technology, most famously with its GeForce graphics chips which are used in everything from budget PCs to gaming systems. Apple itself makes a GeForce 8800 GS an option in high-end iMac configurations.

Huang says he expects Tegra to sell to "anyone who wants an alternative like the iPhone," including PC companies such as Dell. The MID concept has been heavily promoted by CPU maker Intel, which builds its own competing chips, such as the Atom. In recent months the two companies have increasingly drifted farther apart, partly due to Intel's dismissal of the concept of separate graphics processors.