News: Nvidia teams with HTC in bid to save 2009 revenue

Something I found while trawling through the net. Hopefully the new pdas coming out would have better graphics or at least the proper drivers! Shame on Qualcom, hopefully Nvidia would serve HTC better.

From: http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/20090112/nvidia-teams-with-htc-bid-save-revenue.htm
By Daniel Jacobs
13 January 2009 @ 02:37 am AEST

SAN FRANCISCO - Chip maker Nvidia will power new mobile devices made by HTC, the maker of the popular 'Touch' series handsets, as it moves to shore up what could be a disappointing 2009.

The maker of popular Geforce graphics cards -- technology enabling computers to render 3D imagery -- is pushing a new Tegra processor that is aimed for mobile devices and lower powered Netbooks. The new platform comes at time when other core Nvidia business are expected to see a slow down.

"We believe that HTC has selected the NVDA Tegra applications processor for a new handset design that will ramp in [the second half of 2009]," Doug Freedman of American Technology Research says."We estimate Tegra could add $100M to 2H09 results."

Announced in early 2008, Tegra puts an Arm-based processor core, a GeForce graphics core and other components onto a single chip. The product lineup will include the Tegra 600 running at 700MHz and the Tegra 650 running at 800MHz. The lineup also includes the Tegra APX 2500.

"This revenue will likely be very high margin, given the low-power design in a small-profile package is helping HTC achieve small form factors," Freedman adds. "We expect Tegra to sell in a range of $15 to $25 and have more than one customer in '09."

Nvidia is suffering from a slowing global consumer demand. The firm's new GTX295 -- announced at CES this year -- will likely regain the price performance crown in the GPU market, but the reward will likely be muted given the weakness of the high-end consumer. Market demand is for low-end mainstream, causing a mix shift to lower revenue and margin products, Freedman says.

Freedman contents basic business metrics are likely all very poor: revenue, margins, and inventory (driven in large part by the collapse of desktop enthusiast GPUs). Weakness is likely to persist into a seasonal soft period,

"We continue to recommend that investors avoid the PC-related semiconductor food chain due to the incredibly challenging short-term environment, though we remain optimistic on long-term design wins, stable pricing, and eventual inventory replenishment providing a floor of support."

AmTech maintains a neutral outlook on Nvidia, and reduces their price target to $7 from $8.50.

Shares of Nvidia fell 36 cents, or 4.54 percent to $7.57 by mid-day trading.

From http://wmpoweruser.com/?p=2423

The Tegra 650 that is targeted for handheld devices has the following specifications:
800 MHz
LP-DDR (200 MHz)
2.5 ~ 4 watts envelope
All-day media processing, for 130 hours audio, 30 hours HD video playback
HD image processing for advanced digital still camera and HD camcorder functions
Optimized hardware support for Web 2.0 applications for a true desktop-class internet experience
Display support for 1080p HDMI, WSXGA+ LCD and CRT, and NTSC/PAL TV-Out
Direct support for WiFi, disk drives, keyboard, mouse, and other peripherals
A complete Board Support Package (BSP) to enable fast times to market for Windows Mobile-based designs

If you are still unconvinced, then the next video (a prototype device powered by a Tegra processor) will definitely have you standing in line for the next Tegra powered HTC phone.
We should also remind you of the recent reports, about HTC choosing Ericsson’s platform (EPM) instead of Qualcomm’s. This fact, compined with what the awesomeness of above video, should add up to some great devices. What do you think?