Even after its next-generation “Ada” GPUs launch, Nvidia is anticipated to continue developing and selling its RTX 30-series graphics cards. Colette Kress, CFO, said as much at Morgan Stanley’s Technology, Media, and Telecom Conference. PCMag initially reported Kress’ remarks.
Nvidia’s gaming division saw an “opportunity” to sell RTX 30-series and Turing-architecture based RTX 20-series graphics cards due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the supply chain challenges it worsened, according to Kress. “So we’ve been doing that,” Kress explained, “to bring more and more supply to our players.” “And we might see something similar in the future.” It worked well with Ampere, and we’ll see how it goes as time goes on.”
Nvidia has continued to build the RTX 2060 alongside the RTX 3000 cards, even releasing a new version with 12GB of RAM in December to help meet demand during the component shortage, though even that supply was limited. There’s also the RTX 2050 mobile option, which is set to launch in the coming months.
Nvidia’s next-generation graphics cards, presumably the RTX 40-series, are expected to be released in stages. Nvidia has traditionally started with its high-end cards and then followed up with lower-tier models, often a year or more later. It’s not out of the question that the RTX 4090, RTX 4080, and possibly the RTX 4070 will be released initially, with the RTX 3060 and RTX 3050 remaining as entry and mid-level cards. The Turing-based GTX 1650 and GTX 1660 cards remained in the market, while the new Ampere-based RTX 3070, RTX 3080, and RTX 3090 led the drive.
Nvidia has been selling cards from multiple generations side by side for quite some time in this manner. It’s not uncommon for a chipmaker to keep making outdated silicon. Intel and AMD, for example, on the CPU side, frequently produce processors that are many generations old. However, in this situation, the cards are being kept on hand to continue to meet the needs of gamers who have been unable to upgrade to the latest graphics cards due to shortages.
Still, Kress is implying, if not admitting, that this strategy will continue and that keeping obsolete GPUs around may be necessary for Nvidia to meet demand. According to Kress, Nvidia is not ready to disclose any new products during the investor event, though we “may hear more” about plans at GTC. The recent Nvidia hack has revealed a wealth of information on the company’s upcoming GPU plans, and all signs point to Ada and RTX 40-series graphics cards being released this fall.
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