The Register heeft een bericht gepost over nVidia's aanslag op ATi's marktaandeel in het 3D graphics segment. Volgens nVidia zijn ze inmiddels voorbij ATi gekomen in de dekstop 3D markt, mede dankzij haar snelle ontwikkelingen in de GeForce-serie en ATi's vertragingen in het tweede kwartaal van dit jaar. Aan de andere kant is ATi nog steeds sterk vertegenwoordigd in de notebook markt en profiteert het van meer ervaring op het gebied van chipsets. Het oorlogsgebied wordt volgend jaar verder uitgebreid naar de gameconsoles; ATi levert de graphics voor Nintendo's Gamecube terwijl nVidia de XBox van 3D power voorziet:
According to Mercury Research, ATI's share of the desktop 3D graphics business fell to 36 per cent by the end of Q2 2000, while Nvidia took 35 per cent. With Nvidia's aggressive roll-out of new chips, and the delay ATI has experienced shipping its high-end Radeon part, it's not hard to imagine that the Q3 figures will show Nvidia surging past ATI.
"We've been getting more and more wins in the desktop market," said Daniel Vivoli, Nvidia's chief spin doctor, according to CNet. "Our product line of high-performance graphics has helped us dominate the segment." He also said he too expects his company will have out-sold ATI during the third quarter.
Still, it's not yet time to write off ATI. The desktop market isn't the be all and end all of the 3D graphics business. Nvidia's success has come by aggressively targeting the OEM desktop market and, more recently, with the launch of the GeForce 2 MX, the notebook arena. ATI remains strong in that space, thanks to its Rage Mobility line-up, soon to be updated with Radeon chips. Nvidia is also looking to the wider chip-set market, where, again, ATI already has a presence and will be launching products next year.
Finally, ATI has a major supply deal with Nintendo to supply graphics chips for the latter's GameCube console due late next year. That should match Nvidia's X-box win, will see it supply 3D silicon and more for Microsoft's entry into the console market.
ATI's latest Radeon roadmap suggests that the company has been shocked out of its success-induced lethargy and realises it needs to be a damn site more aggressive it it's to retain its leadership of the market.