Nvidia is going through a very public divorce, and they recently made the decision to call it quits.
Following a significant falling out with GPU tech giant Nvidia, PC graphics card manufacturer EVGA has stated that it would stop producing all GPU hardware at the end of this current hardware generation.
EVGA has decided to part ways with Nvidia, but it also has no intentions to work with AMD or Intel, two of Nvidia’s main competitors, in a move that is expected to have a big impact on the PC gaming hardware market. Instead, the company, which is renowned for producing high-quality cards at competitive costs, will completely give up on the GPU market.
The revelation was announced today by a select group of hardware-focused media channels in a series of in-depth reports, the greatest of which can be found on the excellent GamersNexus channel on YouTube (and embedded below). These publications received firsthand information from EVGA, which verified that it will not be moving forward with those products—or any other Nvidia products—despite constructing a prototype and test cards based on Nvidia’s future 40-series GPUs.
Only a brief forum post from an EVGA Product Manager on the official website contained a confirmation of the claim. The statement begins by stating that “EVGA will not carry the next generation graphics cards,” before emphasizing that support for current-generation products will continue.
With EVGA’s major gripe being that Nvidia is allegedly undercutting third-party cards with its own “Founders Edition” cards, it is obvious that the disagreement is mostly about money. Because Nvidia manufactures those GPUs, it effectively eliminates the “middle man” of independent companies like EVGA, Gigabyte, or Asus. As a result, it can charge less and gain a competitive advantage over other companies. According to the claim, the amount of the reduction Nvidia can achieve with its own cards makes it frequently hard for EVGA to actually sell some 30-series GPU models at a profit.
Speaking to GamersNexus, EVGA CEO Andrew Han said the choice was based on principles rather than just numbers. He went on to say that Nvidia had treated its partners poorly in terms of communication and treatment.
This is a significant choice for EVGA. EVGA produces a variety of goods, including power supplies, but according to GamersNexus, its GPU division generates over 70% of the firm’s income, a market that the company now plans to completely exit. The loss of EVGA, which accounts for a sizeable portion of Nvidia’s global GPU sales, could be unpleasant for Nvidia as well, although other partners might be able to fill the void.
EVGA is stepping back because, for whatever reason, it is not interested in designing GPUs using AMD or Intel technology. Top-level EVGA executives claim they have no plans to make workforce reductions in light of this and the fact that many of their employees will no longer possess skills necessary for the brand.
All of this occurs during a highly exciting and challenging period for the PC hardware market, particularly in relation to GPUs. Due to the desire for gaming hardware and the cryptocurrency fever, GPU demand has skyrocketed over the past several years and throughout the pandemic. Due to the high pricing and limited supply that resulted, GPU manufacturers had to step up their game and increase their output. The bottom eventually came out as expected.
As the value of cryptocurrencies fell, miners sold off their old cards, and demand fell. As a result, many hardware businesses suffered losses and were left with vast amounts of excess inventory. A deficit became a surplus almost immediately. Nvidia ultimately fell far short of their sales expectations. We currently find ourselves in this situation—on the verge of a new generation represented by the 40-series, but with an overabundance of 30-series products cluttering the supply chain.
EVGA will no longer be a part of the 40 series, no matter what occurs. The business will keep selling through the 30-series cards in its inventory while keeping some units in reserve to ensure it can satisfy warranty and maintenance obligations for cards it has already sold. But the business intends to stop producing GPUs once the current supply is gone.
