NVIDIA, optimistic about high-end graphics cards sales

NVIDIA, the world’s largest graphics chips manufacturer, estimates it will sell several thousand GeForce 8800 series graphics cards in Romania, at prices ranging between 500 and 600 euros, by the end of the year, Luciano Alibrandi, PR Manager of NVIDIA for EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region, told ZF.
With the GeForce 8800 series graphics cards, which are more expensive than an average desktop PC, NVIDIA tackles the “premium” segment of users, who will invest in their PCs, so as to use all the functions of the new graphical interface offered by the Windows Vista operating system. NVIDIA bets on the demand generated by the new generation of PC games and by the new high-definition television standards, as well as on the demand coming from the companies that use CAD applications.
The company launched globally the GeForce 8800 GPUs and the chipset for the Intel Quad motherboards last week. The products will become available “almost immediately” in Romania, as well, according to the company representatives. The GeForce 8800 GPUs are the first such devices compatible with Microsoft DirectX 10, the latest application programming interface, set to ship with the Microsoft Vista operating system, NVIDIA officials say. The graphics cards have 640 or 768 MB of memory and a graphics processing capacity over twice as big as the previous generation of products, according to the international media.
“There is no better way to experience Windows Vista, DirectX 10, HD-DVD, and Blu-ray than with a PC powered by GeForce 8800 and nForce 680i SLI,” said Jen Hsun Huang, president and CEO of NVIDIA.
“The product arrives at the right time for the high (winter) season and before the new operating system availability,” Luciano Alibrandi told ZF. “Based on the fact that the gamers and the end users in general like to invest in the machines for a certain period (…) we expect very high interest for the new products. We estimate we will sell several thousands of GeForce 8800 cards by the end of the year in Romania alone. We will sell fewer units on the markets in the region, considering these are smaller compared with Romania. We will have, of course, much more systems for the motherboards,” the NVIDIA official added.
NVIDIA representatives had previously told ZF they estimated the local graphics cards market would amount to 300,000 units this year. The company holds a 60% market share. Its officials anticipate 11.7 million dollar sales in Romania this year.