|
<ref>Press Release: [http://www.portalplayer.com/news-and-events/PPI_NVIDIA.htm''NVIDIA to Acquire PortalPlayer''], dated November 06, 2006.</ref>
==History==
[[Jen-Hsun Huang]], [[Chris Malachowsky]], and [[Curtis Priem]] founded the company in January 1993 and incorporated it in [[California]] in April 1993 (later re-incorporating it in [[Delaware corporation|Delaware]]). The company remained relatively low-key until the late 1997-1998 period, when it launched its line of RIVA PC graphics processors. It went public in January 1999 on [[Nasdaq]]; in May of that year it shipped its 10 millionth graphics processor. In 2000 it acquired the intellectual assets of one-time rival [[3dfx]], one of the biggest graphics companies of the mid to late 1990s. NVIDIA established close ties with many [[Original Equipment Manufacturer|OEM]] companies as well as with organizations like [[Silicon Graphics|SGI]]. By February 2002, NVIDIA had shipped 100 million graphics processors.
Today, NVIDIA and ATI Technologies (now acquired by AMD) supply the majority of "discrete" graphics chips found in most modern mainstream PCs. NVIDIA's flagship product, the [[GeForce]] line of graphics processors, first launched in 1999. Now, the Geforce brand-name has expanded to cover graphics technology in both desktop and mobile PC graphics chipsets. For the handheld device market, NVIDIA has the ''Goforce'' product line, which are high performance, low power graphics processors designed specifically for wireless devices.
As a [[fabless]] high-tech company, NVIDIA conducts research & development of chips in its laboratories, but subcontracts the actual (silicon) manufacturing to third-parties. In the past, NVIDIA has sourced silicon production capacity from [[IBM]], [[STMicroelectronics]], [[TSMC]], and [[United Microelectronics Corporation|UMC]]. The [[supply chain]] of a chip involves multiple third-parties: the foundry makes processor wafers, the test-house tests the dies for defects and sorts them based on performance-characterization, and the packager seals individual dies in a hardened case. In terms of inventory management, NVIDIA must place foundry orders months in advance of their planned sale, then hold the produced chips in a warehouse until final delivery. This leads to occasional supply/demand imbalances.
It acquired a company focused on video software such as [[codec]]s for mobile devices<ref>PACE Soft Silicon Case Study: [http://www.intel.com/design/pca/applicationsprocessors/casestudies/300876.htm ''Taking Camcorder Technology to New Levels in Wireless Devices''].</ref>, PACE Soft Silicon in [[Pune]], [[India]], to increase its number of engineers in the country. <ref>InfoWorld news: [http://www.infoworld.com/article/06/03/17/76575_HNnvidiaacquires_1.html ''Nvidia acquires Indian company for engineering staff''], dated March 17, 2006.</ref>
It is currently in the process of acquiring San Jose based pioneer in portable multimedia semiconductor devices, PORTAL PLAYER Inc.
<ref>Press Release: [http://www.portalplayer.com/news-and-events/PPI_NVIDIA.htm''NVIDIA to Acquire PortalPlayer''], dated November 06, 2006.</ref>
==Products==
|
