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Nvidia: GPU failures not affecting orders
Despite a widely publicized problem with weak packaging materials last year, which caused some of its laptop graphics chips to fail at “higher than normal rates,” Nvidia claims orders for its mobile graphics chips have not been affected. While we wouldn’t say the same is true for the firm’s reputation, it seems computer builders are still choosing Nvidia’s graphics cores and are actually increasing their usage this year, contrary to what has been previously speculated.
Nvidia’s quick response to the problem helped ensure that its relationships with OEMs remain strong, according to the company. The graphics firm took a one-time $196 million charge last year to cover warranty and product replacement costs, in addition to releasing a software update to make laptop fans run more frequently; hence reducing thermal stress on the chips but also affecting battery life and causing increased noise.
However, just because OEMs seem to be in a forgiving mood doesn’t mean everyone else is. Nvidia is currently facing a securities lawsuit for allegedly concealing the existence of this defect in its graphics chip line for several months before coming clean, as well as one from angry customers with faulty graphics.
Nvidia’s quick response to the problem helped ensure that its relationships with OEMs remain strong, according to the company. The graphics firm took a one-time $196 million charge last year to cover warranty and product replacement costs, in addition to releasing a software update to make laptop fans run more frequently; hence reducing thermal stress on the chips but also affecting battery life and causing increased noise.
However, just because OEMs seem to be in a forgiving mood doesn’t mean everyone else is. Nvidia is currently facing a securities lawsuit for allegedly concealing the existence of this defect in its graphics chip line for several months before coming clean, as well as one from angry customers with faulty graphics.
User Comments (2)
Post a comment| polidiotic on June 9, 2009 1:28 PM | Is it too much to be honest with consumers these days? ;/ That's just sad. They deserve the lawsuit if that's the way they conduct business. |
| onearmedscissor on June 9, 2009 11:06 PM | Uh, quick response? Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but my
understanding was that that "one time charge" was more of a
cop out, as the chips contained failing, and it didn't
really cover everything that the big computer manufacturers
had to eat in covering replacements under warranty. I don't
believe they ever really owned up and just openly said, "We
messed up. It was all our fault." They seemed to try and
dump as much of the problem on everyone else as
possible. That Dell article seems to confirm this. Forcing them into paying up 6 months later isn't an admission of guilt or a quick response lol... |
