Nvidia Corp started the New Year with a bang, unveiling a number new ventures, products and add-ons as the tech giant prepares for the start of the CES tech conference.
Firstly, the Nasdaq-listed group announced it is teaming up with Foxconn, which will begin manufacturing electric vehicles (EVs) based on Nvidia’s Drive Hyperion platform.
Foxconn manufactured EVs will feature Drive Orin ECUs and Drive Hyperion sensors for highly automated driving capabilities.
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“Foxconn’s decision to also use the Drive Hyperion sensor suite for its EVs will help accelerate their path to production without compromising safety, reliability or quality,” Rishi Dhall, vice president of automotive at Nvidia said.
Nvidia has been increasingly diving into the automotive market by building out the sensors and software carmakers will need to ensure their vehicles can eventually navigate the world without the need for driver intervention.
However, it still makes up a small part of its business with automotive revenues in quarter three totalling just US$251 million out of a company total of US$5.93 billion.
In comparison its gaming and data center businesses raked in US$1.57 billion and US$3.83 billion, respectively.
Aside from the Foxconn deal, Nvidia also launched its latest laptop graphics chips ranging from the entry-level RTX 4050 chip to the high-end RTX 4090 card.
According to the company, laptops running on RTX 40 series chips should offer up to four times the performance in games like “Cyberpunk 2077,” while providing three times the energy efficiency of Nvidia’s prior generation chips.
But the technology comes at a price with laptops running RTX 4080 or RTX 4090 selling at prices starting from US$1,999.
Laptops equipped with Nvidia’s RTX 4050, meanwhile, will start at US$999.
In addition to the new chips, Nvidia has updated its GeForce Now cloud gaming platform which will now run on Nvidia’s RTX 4080 graphics cards.
The company also said GeForce Now will soon be available to stream in vehicles with Hyundai, BYD, and Polestar working to bring game streaming to their main infotainment units.
Despite the raft of news, shares were marked down 2.6% approaching today’s close.
Contact the author at jeremy@proactiveinvestors.com