Businessweek

NVIDIA Corporation operates as a visual computing company. The company’s research and development in visual computing has yielded approximately 5,000 patents granted or pending worldwide. Segments The company’s two segments are based on the GPU and the Tegra processor. The company sells its processors to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) that build PCs, workstations, servers, smartphones and tablets. The company targets four market segments - Gaming, Enterprise, Mobile and Cloud. GPU This business includes GeForce for consumer desktop and notebook PCs. GeForce GPUs enhance the gaming experience on PCs by improving the visual quality of graphics through visual fidelity effects, higher frame rate for smoother gameplay, and replicating the realistic behavior of light and physical objects; Quadro for professional workstations; Tesla for supercomputing servers and workstations; GRID Graphics Modules for industry-standard servers to accelerate virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) from companies like Citrix and VMware, also for server workstations; and GRID Systems for applications ranging from streaming games to hosting graphics-intensive design applications, such as Adobe, Autodesk and SolidWorks. Tegra Processors Tegra processors are architected to deliver a visual and multimedia experience on tablets, smartphones and gaming devices while consuming minimal power. The new generation is Tegra 4, a mobile processor and quad-core A15 processor, with 72 graphics cores; Icera baseband processors and radio frequency (RF) transceivers for mobile connectivity; integrated chip solutions that combine the Tegra applications processor and the Icera baseband processor; Project SHIELD, an Android gaming device featuring its Tegra 4 processor; Tegra VCM, Tegra-based vehicle computing modules that integrate an entire automotive computer into a single component; and embedded computing platforms for various digital consumer devices, such as TVs and smart monitors. Strategy The company’s strategy includes the following elements: extend technology leadership in visual computing; enable and deliver the gaming experiences; revolutionize computing with the parallel processing capability of the GPU; extend visual computing leadership into mobile and cloud computing platforms; utilize processors and visual computing expertise to create differentiated devices; and use intellectual property and resources to enter into license and development contracts. Seasonality The company has stronger revenues in the second half of its year than in the first half of its year, primarily due to back-to-school and holiday demand. Research and Development The company’s research and development strategy is to focus on developing multiple generations of GPUs and Tegra Processors, including GPUs for high-performance computing, and Tegra SOCs for Project SHIELD and other mobile products using independent design teams. The company’s research and development activities are performed within specialized groups consisting of software engineering, hardware engineering, very large scale integration design engineering, process engineering, architecture and algorithms. During the year 2013, the company incurred research and development expense of $1,147.3 million. Competition The company’s competitors include: suppliers of GPUs, including supercomputers and chipsets that incorporate 3D graphics functionality as part of their existing solutions, such as Advanced Micro Devices, or AMD, and Intel; suppliers of SOC products that support tablets, smartphones, and PCs, such as AMD, Apple Inc., ARM Holdings plc, Broadcom Corporation, Fujitsu Limited, HiSilicon Technologies Co., Ltd., Imagination Technologies Ltd., Intel, Marvell Technology Group Ltd., Mediatek, NEC Corporation, Qualcomm Incorporated, Renesas Technology Corp., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., and ST Microelectronics; licensors of graphics technologies, such as ARM Holdings plc, Imagination Technologies Group plc. and Vivante Corporation; and suppliers of cellular basebands such as Broadcom Corporation, Freescale Semiconductor Inc., HiSilicon Technologies Co., Ltd., Intel, Marvell Technology Group Ltd., Mediatek, Qualcomm Incorporated, Renesas Technology Corp., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Spreadtrum Communications Co., Ltd, and ST-Ericsson. History NVIDIA Corporation was founded in 1993.