...and the AIBs?
Still, given that Intel currently has a market cap of roughly nine times the combined total of NVIDIA and AMD added together, it’s hard not to believe that AIB’s might not be tempted to defect to Intel when a viable GPU offering presents itself.
‘Even if they throw money at it, it’s not that simple. How easy will it be for Intel to start using an AIB model?’ retorted Berraondo. He also made it clear that, given the strong relationships currently in place between NVIDIA [and AMD] and their AIBs, jumping ship would be no small decision for them. He also indicated that there is bound to be a ‘wait and see’ period.
Having said that, with over 20 AIBs, NVIDIA is likely to be the first to start losing them as AMD's smaller number are likely to be more closely allied to it. In short, NVIDIA had better make sure its AIBs are at the very top of its Christmas card list this year.
Furthermore, Intel's existing relationships on the mainboard side will surely, at the very least, give it a decent start in developing that AIB model.
To conclude, we asked him about the latest NVIDIA product launches. ‘The 9800 GX2 is doing really well,’ he said, which is what you’d expect of the new overall GPU performance leader.
NVIDIA’s most recent launch, however, has received more luke-warm reviews. ‘The 9800 GX2 is more of an incremental improvement. People expect a big leap with every new product but they also get annoyed if you don’t offer a refresh every six months,’ he explained.
Finally, we asked him why he decided to leave the currently very successful Asus for NVIDIA. ‘This was an important move for me – I wouldn’t have moved to another manufacturer,’ he said. ‘Asus and NVIDIA have very close ties and, of course, I have existing relationships with AMD and Intel from my time at Asus.’
With the battle for the PC’s brain looking to heat up between NVIDIA, AMD and Intel, those existing relationships will be put to the test in the next few years.
