NVIDIA could sell Tegra reference devices to OEMs in attempt to grow market share
For a hot second NVIDIA’s Tegra 3 platform was the go-to SoC for mobile manufacturers, though more recently the Snapdragon S4 series has been the hot hand. NVIDIA hopes to turn things around with their newly announced Tegra 4, but just in case OEMs don’t buy in, the company may have a plan.
According to a new report, in an effort to grow market share for their mobile processing platform, NVIDIA could soon begin offering Tegra reference designs direct to OEMs in China and Russia. NVIDIA would have control over hardware design, while manufacturers could rebrand the devices to their pleasing.
Not only would the strategy give NVIDIA the perfect opportunity to showcase their processing platform on devices tailored to its capabilities, but it would also allow the company to undercut competition and offer quality devices at pricing levels more suited for emerging markets. This would be the aim, though a gnarly NVIDIA-designed super phone wouldn’t be totally out of the question.
If the rumors pan out, we could see these devices as early as May or June. Remember, we’ve already seen NVIDIA’s willingness to dive into the mobile entertainment market with their Project Shield gaming handheld, so it’s not a stretch to think smartphones and tablets are not far off.
[via TechCrunch]