Nvidia, NEC act on i740 graphics entry

Electronic News, March 2, 1998 by Peter Brown

San Jose, Calif.--Less than three weeks after Intel's rollout of its i740 graphics accelerator, market competitors Nvidia and NEC Electronics have unveiled their next generation graphics ICs for the mainstream graphics market--targeting directly at the microprocessor giant with price and performance match-ups.

With the top two leading chipmakers in the world, Intel and NEC, attempting to move heavily into the graphics accelerator business, Nvidia intends to focus only on graphics and claims several OEM design wins. Industry observers predict this will not last as the manufacturing and marketing capabilities of the two giants chipmakers overrun the smaller vendors. It is a fast growing market. Jon Peddie Associates (JPA), a market research firm based in Tiburon, Calif., estimates the 3-D graphics market will grow to more than $2 billion by the year 2000. That's up from $100 million in 1996. JPA predicts that close to 100 percent of all PCs--including workstations--by that time will have 3-D capability.

"Make no mistake about it, Intel's entry into the 3D graphics is a wake-up call to the industry and marks a significant milestone for mainstream 3D graphics capabilities that will forever change the landscape of the indus-

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