Nvidia posts $201.3 million loss

Author: Ben Hardwidge
Published: 8th May 2009
Comments (22) Stumble
Nvidia posts $201.3 million loss

Nvidia says that over 400 million Tegra devices will be shipped in 2012, bringing in a lot of revenue for the company in the future.

With the tech industry taking a big beating in the financial stakes, it’s no surprise that Nvidia posted a loss of $201.3 million ($0.37 per share) for the first quarter of fiscal 2010 yesterday. However, Nvidia’s CEO Jen-Hsun Huang is determined to look on the positive side, and predicts that GPGPU computing and Nvidia’s Tegra platform will become big money spinners for the company in the future.

In a webcast to coincide with the announcement of Nvidia’s figures, Huang said that “during the quarter, we made good progress managing operating expenses and reducing inventory.” With regards to the latter, Nvidia says that it’s reduced its inventory days from 144 to 64 compared with the previous quarter. The company also points out that its revenue has grown 38 percent sequentially from the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009.

However, Nvidia’s revenue has still dropped severely in comparison with the first quarter of fiscal 2009. For the first quarter of fiscal 2010, Nvidia reported revenue of $664.2 million, compared with a massive $1.2 billion in the same quarter in fiscal 2009 – that’s a drop of 42 percent. AMD's figures showed a similar story, with dramatic losses in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009, but much better results in the first quarter of fiscal 2010.

Looking on the positive side, Nvidia points to its recent market share figures from Mercury Research, in which Nvidia was shown to have 69 per cent of the discrete desktop GPU market. Nvidia also said that the figures for the last quarter were better than the company expected, particularly in comparison with the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009. Nvidia’s chief financial officer, David White, said that the sequential growth of 38 percent was “significantly higher than our estimate, which was flat to slightly up.”

In the future, Huang said that the company would continue to invest in four main initiatives: “one, maintaining our GPU leadership; two, driving the GPU computing revolution; three, increasing the adoption of GPUs in all segments of computing; and four, leading the mobile computing revolution.”

Huang pointed out that “GPU computing will be incorporated into the two most important operating systems in the very near future - Windows 7 with DX compute, and OS 10 Snow Leopard with Open CL.” These operating systems, says Huang, “will incorporate GPU computing into the core operating system and the GPU will become indispensable to achieve a great computing experience.”

Huang also has a lot of faith in Nvidia’s mobile Tegra system-on-chip technology. “More than 400 million of these devices will be shipped in 2012,” said Huang, adding that “our nearly four-year investment in Tegra has positioned us squarely at the center of the next computing revolution. We estimate that Tegra has opened up an additional $10 billion growth market for us.”

Do you think that GPGPU computing become “indispensible” in the future, and will Tegra be the runaway success that Nvidia predicts? Let us know your thoughts in the forums.
Quote FeRaL 8th May 2009, 16:46
Heheh, their stock is taking a big hit today as well... Can't say this could have happened to a more deserving company for how it tries to market/spin their products to unsuspecting fools. P.T. Barnum would be proud of their efforts to screw the general public over.
Quote sear 8th May 2009, 17:25
From the sound of it, GT300 may very well be the design revolution NVIDIA needs to get back in the game. They are still the GPU market leader, so it's not like a loss such as this means the company is going to crumble, but a brand-new architecture will revitalise the sales they have been losing amongst the mainstream and enthusiast crowds to ATI lately.
Quote Walibe 8th May 2009, 17:35
NVIDIA vs ATI/AMD fanboy argument doesn't really matter here as both in theory could go under the next year or so if things do not improve. Only Intel look to be in reasonable shape at the moment but its still not fantastic. Most tech companies have been used to throwing millions into development at the height of the economic boom. These companies must learn to bring those costs back down or else we will loose them one after another and it could be things such as the GPU war which seems to have run since the beginning of time that leads to one going under. Lets not forget its not that long ago you may of have 3DFX Voodoo or Matrox card at the heart of your gaming rig, not anymore.
Quote Faulk_Wulf 8th May 2009, 18:14
Quote:
Originally Posted by FeRaL
Heheh, their stock is taking a big hit today as well... Can't say this could have happened to a more deserving company for how it tries to market/spin their products to unsuspecting fools. P.T. Barnum would be proud of their efforts to screw the general public over.

I'm curious what sour experiences you have had to make you say such a thing. I have an Nvidia 8600 and I have nothing but praise for it. I am looking forward to a Radeon 4850 soon but that's purely because ATI made advances and tied it to a comparative price. But that's competition, but I hardly see any spin or propaganda.
Quote willyolio 8th May 2009, 18:45
Quick, rebrand something!
Quote Paradigm Shifter 8th May 2009, 19:19
Quote:
Originally Posted by Faulk_Wulf
I'm curious what sour experiences you have had to make you say such a thing. I have an Nvidia 8600 and I have nothing but praise for it. I am looking forward to a Radeon 4850 soon but that's purely because ATI made advances and tied it to a comparative price. But that's competition, but I hardly see any spin or propaganda.

The sour experience is really down to the fact that nVidia has rebranded what is effectively the same chip four or five times now. 8800GT -> 8800GTS -> 9800GT -> 9800GTX -> 9800GTX+ -> GTS250.

The misbranding of laptop GPU parts is another bitter pill. The GTX280M is actually just a 9800GTX. I wouldn't mind about the Mobility parts being clocked lower... if they actually used a GT200 core when they called it 'GTX280'. They imply that it is the mobile equivalent of the desktop GTX280 part... and it isn't.
Quote FeRaL 8th May 2009, 20:21
Quote:
Originally Posted by Paradigm Shifter
Quote:
Originally Posted by Faulk_Wulf
I'm curious what sour experiences you have had to make you say such a thing. I have an Nvidia 8600 and I have nothing but praise for it. I am looking forward to a Radeon 4850 soon but that's purely because ATI made advances and tied it to a comparative price. But that's competition, but I hardly see any spin or propaganda.

The sour experience is really down to the fact that nVidia has rebranded what is effectively the same chip four or five times now. 8800GT -> 8800GTS -> 9800GT -> 9800GTX -> 9800GTX+ -> GTS250.

The misbranding of laptop GPU parts is another bitter pill. The GTX280M is actually just a 9800GTX. I wouldn't mind about the Mobility parts being clocked lower... if they actually used a GT200 core when they called it 'GTX280'. They imply that it is the mobile equivalent of the desktop GTX280 part... and it isn't.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Also, not sure why their fiscal year numbers are ahead of the actual year but I checked their website and their press release says the same thing, Q1 2010. Last I checked we just finished Q1 2009, but hey whatever...
Quote JyX 8th May 2009, 20:40
"the GPU will become indispensable"

Yeah... looking forward to AMD's Bulldozer and Intel's Westmere.
Quote ItchyD 9th May 2009, 00:01
@Paradigm Shifter

Totaly agree and it's not just the rebranding it's the confusing pointless naming architechture many companys have to their products, the whole industry does it nvidia amd intel. How much confusion is there for a 'noob' when it comes to picking a gfx card/cpu model there really should be some kind of industry sliding scale to judge against but then again no one is going to activly admit that their GF 239850000 GTSx 24 is slower than a R41 something!!! ho hum just my 2c

Itchy D
Quote D-Cyph3r 9th May 2009, 00:14
Quote:
Originally Posted by sear
From the sound of it, GT300 may very well be the design revolution NVIDIA needs to get back in the game. They are still the GPU market leader, so it's not like a loss such as this means the company is going to crumble, but a brand-new architecture will revitalise the sales they have been losing amongst the mainstream and enthusiast crowds to ATI lately.

I disagree. From what i've heard of GT300 it looks like Nvidia is just going to make the same mistakes over again.

ATI got it right with a small, cheap, scalable die in R740, so right that the only way nVidia was able to stay competitive was to make huge price cuts, and subsequently huge losses, on it's monolithic GPU.


Nvidia is posting large losses, ATI was in profit. Throwing aside fanboyism (allthough it is very hard to LIKE nVidia atm) ATI's strategy really shows up team green.
Quote MajestiX 9th May 2009, 00:40
who cares what they re brand it as, if you dont want to get technical then it's upto you to buy from someone who is knowledgeable and not trying to rip you off. People do it in consumer electronics all the time, have you ever ripped apart your home appliance to find it's a totally different brand? You as a consumer still have a return policy, if you got it home and are not happy with it then simply return it, Re branding is nothing new I wouldn't simply rip on a company because their market team deserves to get fired.

Sure rip on Intel and nvidia pretty sure AMD did same thing back in the athlon days with the model numbering confusing customer to thinking it was the clock speed when it was actually not. I knew a lotta people burnt by this.
Quote SMIFFYDUDE 9th May 2009, 01:01
nVidia make far too many cards.

200 Series 100 Series
GeForce GTS 150 *
GeForce GT 130 *
GeForce GT 120 *
GeForce G100 *
GeForce GTX 295
GeForce GTX 285
GeForce GTX 280
GeForce GTX 275
GeForce GTX 260
GeForce GTS 250



9 Series
GeForce 9800 GX2
GeForce 9800 GTX+
GeForce 9800 GTX
GeForce 9800 GT
GeForce 9600 GT
GeForce 9600 GSO
GeForce 9500 GT
GeForce 9400 GT
GeForce 9400 mGPU
GeForce 9300 mGPU

8 Series
GeForce 8800 GTS
GeForce 8800 GT
GeForce 8600 GTS
GeForce 8600 GT
Quote SMIFFYDUDE 9th May 2009, 01:05
Sorry about that post, I pressed a key by accident and it sent before i'd finished editing my copy/paste of cards. Still I think my point can still be made out.
Quote Goty 9th May 2009, 05:11
Quote:
Originally Posted by MajestiX
who cares what they re brand it as, if you dont want to get technical then it's upto you to buy from someone who is knowledgeable and not trying to rip you off. People do it in consumer electronics all the time, have you ever ripped apart your home appliance to find it's a totally different brand? You as a consumer still have a return policy, if you got it home and are not happy with it then simply return it, Re branding is nothing new I wouldn't simply rip on a company because their market team deserves to get fired.

Sure rip on Intel and nvidia pretty sure AMD did same thing back in the athlon days with the model numbering confusing customer to thinking it was the clock speed when it was actually not. I knew a lotta people burnt by this.

AMD wasn't trying to make people think that their chips ran at any clockspeed with the old Athlon numbering system, it was meant to HELP the consumer by indicating which chips from their competitor a particular model compared to since the average consumer is a complete idiot and WOULD only take a look at the clockspeed to make a decision.
Quote LordPyrinc 9th May 2009, 07:25
Quote:
Originally Posted by ItchyD
@Paradigm Shifter

Totaly agree and it's not just the rebranding it's the confusing pointless naming architechture many companys have to their products, the whole industry does it nvidia amd intel. How much confusion is there for a 'noob' when it comes to picking a gfx card/cpu model there really should be some kind of industry sliding scale to judge against but then again no one is going to activly admit that their GF 239850000 GTSx 24 is slower than a R41 something!!! ho hum just my 2c

Itchy D

;)
Quote Dreaming 9th May 2009, 08:41
How much is gross profit because I am guessing write downs of non current assets might be a healthy contributor to hefty losses atm.
Quote Dreaming 9th May 2009, 09:17
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dreaming
How much is gross profit because I am guessing write downs of non current assets might be a healthy contributor to hefty losses atm.
Quote:
During the first quarter of fiscal 2010, NVIDIA recorded a non-recurring charge of $140.2 million in connection with a previously announced cash tender offer to purchase employee stock options. This charge represents stock-based compensation expense associated with the stock options that were tendered, plus associated payroll taxes and professional fees.

NVIDIA's results for the first quarter of fiscal 2010, computed in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), included a net loss of $201.3 million, or $0.37 per share. Non-GAAP net loss for the first quarter of fiscal 2010, which excludes recurring stock-based compensation charges, the non-recurring charge related to the tender offer, and the associated tax impact of these items, was $46.7 million, or $0.09 per share.

So seems like it's not the end of the world because even $46.7 in the grand scheme of things isn't going to break the bank for Nvidia.
Quote [USRF]Obiwan 9th May 2009, 16:17
If ATI would support CUDA, I will 'crossover' the Nvidia border faster then a nano second. Because thats the only thing keeping me from going the ATI way.
Quote karx11erx 10th May 2009, 11:43
I am currently evaluating Stream Computing, and I prefer ATI over NVidia for the simple reason that ATI's Stream Computing API is more straight forward and easier to handle than CUDA. I recommend you to take a closer look.
Quote seveneleven 10th May 2009, 16:19
Quote:
Originally Posted by Paradigm Shifter

The sour experience is really down to the fact that nVidia has rebranded what is effectively the same chip four or five times now. 8800GT -> 8800GTS -> 9800GT -> 9800GTX -> 9800GTX+ -> GTS250.

The misbranding of laptop GPU parts is another bitter pill. The GTX280M is actually just a 9800GTX. I wouldn't mind about the Mobility parts being clocked lower... if they actually used a GT200 core when they called it 'GTX280'. They imply that it is the mobile equivalent of the desktop GTX280 part... and it isn't.

You're wrong. Correct rebranding:
8800GT -> 9800GT
8800GTS -> 9800GTX+(this card featured 2 Sli connectors, higher clocks and Hybrid Power) -> GTS250 (different coolers)

It does seem over the top to rebrand products so often but if the technology underneath is unrivaled why bother designing an expensive new one?
Quote Goty 10th May 2009, 21:57
Unrivaled? If that was the case, why bother rebranding at all? Oh yeah, that's right, it's so they can charge people more for the same two year old card!
Quote HourBeforeDawn 11th May 2009, 06:22
Quote:
Originally Posted by [USRF
Obiwan]If ATI would support CUDA, I will 'crossover' the Nvidia border faster then a nano second. Because thats the only thing keeping me from going the ATI way.

it was proven that nVidia never once offered CUDA to ATI, so because of that they never bothered with attempting support for it, why would they that would be a waste of money as CUDA in itself is a flawed concept but ehh wont matter much if your concern for CUDA was its conversion of PhysX as thats going to die soon enough with DX11 and OpenCL thats why nVidia was trying to convince the OpenCL comity to use their PhysX but the flip side to that would it would open it up to ATI and have to be license free which is why no one has heard anything further from nVidia and their physX, so far nVidia has made two big mistakes, one is PhysX that was a complete waste of money on their part and two those stupid 3d glasses that the tech itself is about 10 years old and everyone had the smarts to say pass and go a different direction with it. But anyhow Im done ranting, I agree the company gives little concern to its consumers. They just want money...
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