EVGA Announces Cancelation of NVIDIA Next-gen Graphics Cards Plans, Officially Terminates NVIDIA Partnership

[cvaldes]

During the pandemic you could buy a card directly from Nvidia.

It depends on the market. Here in the USA, Nvidia's Founder Edition card retail sales for the GeForce 30 series (Ampere generation) were exclusively handled by Best Buy. You could not buy them directly from Nvidia nor any other retailer.

At least in the USA, Nvidia did not offer any direct-to-consumer sales, Founders Edition or AIB partner models.

 

[Dirt Chip]

Such a thread, can't remember one like this since the 970GTX 3.5gb memory fiasco...

 

[Jimmy_]

its a GGWP for EVGA - i was expecting some custom liquid-cooled 40-series card like 3090

 

[Bwaze]

It depends on the market. Here in the USA, Nvidia's Founder Edition card retail sales for the GeForce 30 series (Ampere generation) were exclusively handled by Best Buy. You could not buy them directly from Nvidia nor any other retailer.

At least in the USA, Nvidia did not offer any direct-to-consumer sales, Founders Edition or AIB partner models.

In EU Founder's Editions were not even available most of the time. When Nvidia stopped direct sales quite early and chose Best Buy in USA to handle their card sales, there were talks about some big EU retailer that would bring these cards to buyers. Nothing happened.

Notebooksbilliger in Germany was occasionally selling some Founder's Edition cards, but that was a handful every couple of weeks, it almost looked like they were grey imports from elsewhere.

It looked to me like AIB pressured Nvidia to remove Founder's Edition cards from certain markets, and limit their availability in others. I had absolutely no problem with Founders, I think they were the only cards with an interesting design, and I'd buy it in a heartbeat if I could get one.

 

[medi01]

It's really insane news, that's why. EVGA has a loyal and large fanbase, their sells were pretty much guaranteed with each generation of launch.

In a free will capitalist market, it makes no sense. Very odd.

Where can EVGA get alternative chips, if NV keeps cutting into their margins? Right, in its current "exclusively green" state, nowhere.

Oversized companies that dominate the market is where capitalism stops doing well.

 

[Bwaze]

What seems strange to me is also the timing of this announcement.

A few days before RTX 4090 release, a month before RTX 4080. All these cards should have already be in existence, with design done months ago, and manufacturing also done weeks ago.

I've heard that essential employees were leaving the company for quite some time, so the decision was probably already made before the beginning of development of Ada cards, so they didn't waste the design, development and manufacturing on a product they won't launch.

So why wait until Ada launch? So they didn't hurt the sales of existing Ampere stock? So it would have a maximum impact in a time every PC enthusiast watches the news regarding GPUs?

 

[medi01]

80% of their REVENUE made one third of their profit.

Do the math; That's pretty damning against Nvidia.

This needs to be repeated on every page.

PS
I wonder, if AMD would be able to use the situation, fingers crossed.

 

[Chomiq]

The past two years basically erased their existence in markets outside of US, no wonder they were pissed about it.

 

[medi01]

Possibly because they don't want to go back and forth between the two once AMD does a fuck up (if it happens).

NV is quite unique in such FUs.
E.g. Microsoft didn't even bother TALKING to them for their previous console (nor current).
Apple went "FO with that sh*t" and that was back when AMD going bust was quite a possibility.

Seems to be something about Huang's personality at play. And it is hurting NV in major ways.

 

[Bwaze]

Seems to be something about Huang's personality at play. And it is hurting NV in major ways.

Or entirely intentional as they slowly transform into a closed kind of manufacturer without Add In Board partners - do they even need them at this point?

I know Founder's Edition cards aren't to everyone's liking, but if Nvidia were the only "manufacturer", I'm sure they could make a wider array of offerings - from cheap coolers to top of the line water cooled behemoths?

 

[OneMoar]

This needs to be repeated on every page.

PS
I wonder, if AMD would be able to use the situation, fingers crossed.

no it doesn't evga are not the good guys they fucked up and now they are going to pay for it
hans being a typical prideful asian ceo just like jenson and hes about to pay for it
there will not be a evga in 3-6 months quiet possibly less
can we please stop treating this as some kind of hero maneuver by evga what this is is two old men having a pissing contest at everybody else's expense

 

[Valantar]

Or entirely intentional as they slowly transform into a closed kind of manufacturer without Add In Board partners - do they even need them at this point?

I know Founder's Edition cards aren't to everyone's liking, but if Nvidia were the only "manufacturer", I'm sure they could make a wider array of offerings - from cheap coolers to top of the line water cooled behemoths?

They really do. Nvidia doesn't have the distribution and service provider network necessary to do global direct sales, nor do they have the local staff and sales reps necessary. And building up something like this is a massive and very costly undertaking.

Of course, there's also the fact that Nvidia very much enjoys shifting low margin endeavors like low end card design and production onto partners. For them it's the best of both worlds after all - they sell the chips at high margins for AIB partner cards, and sell their own premium SKUs at high margins, while AIB partners fill out the gaps.

no it doesn't evga are not the good guys they fucked up and now they are going to pay for it

Fucked up how?

hans being a typical prideful asian ceo just like jenson and hes about to pay for it

How so?

there will not be a evga in 3-6 months quiet possibly less

Seems rather unlikely. They'll see a major revenue dip, sure, but their PSU business is very solid. Downsizing is not the same as going under.

can we please stop treating this as some kind of hero maneuver by evga what this is is two old men having a pissing contest at everybody else's expense

Why shouldn't we be happy that someone is putting pressure on a massive company with massive market power to change their practices? If pride is what it takes to stand up to a bully, then that's what it takes.

It's not like this hurts consumers after all - they'll still be honoring warranties, and their chip allotments will go to other AIB partners instead. Combine that with a supply glut and very low demand for GPUs currently and I really don't see this as harmful to consumers in any way.

 

[ixi]

Would be good to see EVGA on Red and Blue team .

 

[maxfly]

no it doesn't evga are not the good guys they fucked up and now they are going to pay for it
hans being a typical prideful asian ceo just like jenson and hes about to pay for it
there will not be a evga in 3-6 months quiet possibly less
can we please stop treating this as some kind of hero maneuver by evga what this is is two old men having a pissing contest at everybody else's expense

It finally comes out. After all the nonsense you've posted about EVGA this weekend the truth finally comes out. Your jealous of the old man. How sad.
All that horseshit about gigabyte PSUs in your region being top tier (may the good lord help your fellow countrymen). Your credibility went right out the window with that nonsense btw. To now predicting EVGAs imminent demise...yuh huh. And it had nothing to do with the company, you hate the owner.

 

[R-T-B]

so the decision was probably already made before the beginning of development of Ada cards, so they didn't waste the design, development and manufacturing on a product they won't launch.

Prototype cards exist though.

To be fair, I don't think JG ever gave a psu a 10 of 10, that I recall...that ain't sayin much but anyhow. Hahaha

Seasonic Prime got a perfect 10.

 

[Valantar]

Prototype cards exist though.

Yep, they definitely did a lot of R&D for 4000-series. If this decision had been made that early, we would have heard of it before now, as they could have made it a lot more of a gradual thing. Board design and R&D for a new GPU generation starts, what, at least a year before launch? If I were to guess, I'd say the run-up to the upcoming launch, coupled with Nvidia's current push to restrict retail stock for 3000-series, was probably the straw bale of hay that broke the proverbial camel's back, with EVGA already frustrated with their "partnership" for years, but this finally tipping things over into "no longer worth it" territory.

 

[Deleted member 185088]

They should've stopped being nVidia exclusive a long time ago, ATI and AMD had lots of great GPUs yet they stuck with nVidia. They put themselves in this situation. Worst still they don't want to use their experience to make AMD GPUs.
They won't be missed.

 

[Valantar]

They should've stopped being nVidia exclusive a long time ago, ATI and AMD had lots of great GPUs yet they stuck with nVidia. They put themselves in this situation. Worst still they don't want to use their experience to make AMD GPUs.
They won't be missed.

It's not quite that simple - they likely get significantly better deals, pricing and marketing partnerships through being an exclusive partner. It's the same on the AMD side - the AMD GPUs you see getting promoted are typically Sapphire and Powercolor, both of which are exclusive partners, despite them both being much smaller than someone like Asus or Gigabyte. Why? Because AMD gives more marketing support to exclusive partners, and obviously wants to promote them more. So, for EVGA, despite being a major seller of Nvidia GPUs, they're still small fry overall, and if margins were as bad as claimed with an exclusivity deal, you can only imagine what they would be like without that. And the same goes for how unreasonable negotiations with Nvidia seemingly were even with them being their longest-standing exclusive partner.

As for not wanting to go AMD or Intel - to me it's sensible to not jump to a new option right off the bat. Of course they're in a relatively luxurious position when they seem able to afford a period to figure this out, but then they do have a very solid PSU business that no doubt supports the company well. They might judge this part of the industry to not be worth taking part in any longer, which seems like a pretty valid perspective. When major partners like Asus have been reporting low single digit margins for several generations already, this really isn't a viable business model long term, and with chipmakers working to push their margins higher, this just squeezes AIB partners even more. Something needs to change here, unless we want to see massive consolidation across the GPU industry.

 

[Bomby569]

It's not quite that simple - they likely get significantly better deals, pricing and marketing partnerships through being an exclusive partner. It's the same on the AMD side - the AMD GPUs you see getting promoted are typically Sapphire and Powercolor, both of which are exclusive partners, despite them both being much smaller than someone like Asus or Gigabyte. Why? Because AMD gives more marketing support to exclusive partners, and obviously wants to promote them more. So, for EVGA, despite being a major seller of Nvidia GPUs, they're still small fry overall, and if margins were as bad as claimed with an exclusivity deal, you can only imagine what they would be like without that. And the same goes for how unreasonable negotiations with Nvidia seemingly were even with them being their longest-standing exclusive partner.

pricing maybe but it would make their CEO's claims a bit harder to digest. Marketing i never seen that, they always use their own card.

 

[Valantar]

pricing maybe but it would make their CEO's claims a bit harder to digest. Marketing i never seen that, they always use their own card.

What? Did you somehow read what I said as AIB partners marketing using reference cards or cards from other brands? Okay, so, here's the thing: "marketing support"= the chipmaker gives partners lump sums of money to market their products in specific ways in specific markets and with specific branding (that's why nearly every laptop ad you'll ever see will have significant Intel branding - it's Intel paying for it, regardless of the laptop brand. Similarly, every GPU ad you'll ever see will have prominent official Nvidia/AMD branding). The AIB partners/device makers obviously market their own products - what else would they market, the general concept of GPUs?

Marketing is extremely expensive, and most AIB partners and even major tech brands like Asus, HP, Dell etc. don't necessarily have the means to market their products at scale in all the markets they operate in. That's where marketing support funds from chipmakers come into play. And these days, it's an absolute necessity for operating in this business, as margins for AIB partners are just too slim to pay for their own marketing. And it's obvious that any chipmaker will give more support to an exclusive partner than one that they share. And, of course, the whole GPP debacle was centered around Nvidia heavy-handedly trying to enforce their will onto AIB partners through how they gave out marketing funds.

 

[SOAREVERSOR]

It's not quite that simple - they likely get significantly better deals, pricing and marketing partnerships through being an exclusive partner. It's the same on the AMD side - the AMD GPUs you see getting promoted are typically Sapphire and Powercolor, both of which are exclusive partners, despite them both being much smaller than someone like Asus or Gigabyte. Why? Because AMD gives more marketing support to exclusive partners, and obviously wants to promote them more. So, for EVGA, despite being a major seller of Nvidia GPUs, they're still small fry overall, and if margins were as bad as claimed with an exclusivity deal, you can only imagine what they would be like without that. And the same goes for how unreasonable negotiations with Nvidia seemingly were even with them being their longest-standing exclusive partner.

As for not wanting to go AMD or Intel - to me it's sensible to not jump to a new option right off the bat. Of course they're in a relatively luxurious position when they seem able to afford a period to figure this out, but then they do have a very solid PSU business that no doubt supports the company well. They might judge this part of the industry to not be worth taking part in any longer, which seems like a pretty valid perspective. When major partners like Asus have been reporting low single digit margins for several generations already, this really isn't a viable business model long term, and with chipmakers working to push their margins higher, this just squeezes AIB partners even more. Something needs to change here, unless we want to see massive consolidation across the GPU industry.

They days of GPUs as add in cards are numbered anyways. It's a pretty open secret that the future of gaming is all cloud based. PC will be the first to go and we'll all be using SOCs or APUs and actual graphics "cards" are all going to be on cloud servers to do the work for you. Consoles will be the next thing to go with portable units being the last. The concept of getting a graphics card for your computer unless you are talking some multi thousand dollar workstation type deal will be as antiquated as a horse and buggy within a decade.

 

[Bomby569]

What? Did you somehow read what I said as AIB partners marketing using reference cards or cards from other brands? Okay, so, here's the thing: "marketing support"= the chipmaker gives partners lump sums of money to market their products in specific ways in specific markets and with specific branding (that's why nearly every laptop ad you'll ever see will have significant Intel branding - it's Intel paying for it, regardless of the laptop brand. Similarly, every GPU ad you'll ever see will have prominent official Nvidia/AMD branding). The AIB partners/device makers obviously market their own products - what else would they market, the general concept of GPUs?

Marketing is extremely expensive, and most AIB partners and even major tech brands like Asus, HP, Dell etc. don't necessarily have the means to market their products at scale in all the markets they operate in. That's where marketing support funds from chipmakers come into play. And these days, it's an absolute necessity for operating in this business, as margins for AIB partners are just too slim to pay for their own marketing. And it's obvious that any chipmaker will give more support to an exclusive partner than one that they share. And, of course, the whole GPP debacle was centered around Nvidia heavy-handedly trying to enforce their will onto AIB partners through how they gave out marketing funds.

you lost me. i'm just saying in all amd material they always use a reference card. i doubt they pay for aib's marketing

 

[neatfeatguy]

Perhaps EVGA hasn't picked AMD or Intel to go with because maybe they're waiting to see what kind of deal AMD and/or Intel will approach them with. EVGA is a big name for GPUs, perhaps they're hoping Nvidia's competition will come to them.

 

[OneMoar]

Perhaps EVGA hasn't picked AMD or Intel to go with because maybe they're waiting to see what kind of deal AMD and/or Intel will approach them with. EVGA is a big name for GPUs, perhaps they're hoping Nvidia's competition will come to them.

non-compete clause
also going out of business soon(tm)

 

[AnotherReader]

They days of GPUs as add in cards are numbered anyways. It's a pretty open secret that the future of gaming is all cloud based. PC will be the first to go and we'll all be using SOCs or APUs and actual graphics "cards" are all going to be on cloud servers to do the work for you. Consoles will be the next thing to go with portable units being the last. The concept of getting a graphics card for your computer unless you are talking some multi thousand dollar workstation type deal will be as antiquated as a horse and buggy within a decade.

The pandemic should have been the perfect storm for game streaming. Instead, many people overpaid for discrete GPUs of their own. Google's Stadia has been lackluster so far, and it's telling that not a single game streaming provider has shared revenues or even recurrent subscriber numbers for the service. Consoles are likely to be the big winner if all we are left with is APUs.