Hadlee Simons / Android Authority
For a short interval this June, NVIDIA turned probably the most worthwhile firm on the planet after surpassing Microsoft and Apple by a slender margin. The corporate’s huge valuation bounce comes from the AI growth led by OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, and others. Till just lately, NVIDIA was nearly completely recognized for making graphics {hardware} that focused players and creatives. Return only a few extra years, nevertheless, and NVIDIA was attempting to change into a dominant participant within the Android ecosystem.
After all, NVIDIA’s presence within the smartphone business was short-lived and we haven’t seen the corporate attempt to break into it once more for the reason that mid-2010s. Regardless of these setbacks, nevertheless, NVIDIA exerts larger affect over the trendy smartphone expertise than maybe many people notice. Right here’s the story of how that transformation occurred and why a historically graphics-oriented firm in the present day holds many clues to the way forward for Android.
The Tegra gamble
Over a decade later, it’s straightforward to neglect NVIDIA’s makes an attempt to seize the Android market in its early days. The primary-generation Nexus 7 in 2012, for instance, was powered by NVIDIA’s Tegra 3 processor. The quad-core chip was a powerhouse on the time and propelled the Nexus 7 to widespread reward.
On the time, NVIDIA appeared unstoppable as Tegra more and more regarded like it might drive the following era of Android gadgets. A 12 months later in 2013, we witnessed the launch of the Tegra 4, which was considerably extra highly effective and designed particularly for cellular gadgets. It could additionally go on to energy the NVIDIA Shield, the corporate’s first-ever moveable gaming console.
Nevertheless, regardless of sturdy efficiency benchmarks, the Tegra line of SoCs failed to realize widespread adoption. Although NVIDIA went the additional mile to port high-profile PC video games like Portal, it didn’t discover sufficient Defend Transportable consumers to justify persevering with the product line. The LG G2 Mini was one of many final smartphones to characteristic an NVIDIA chip — its Tegra 4i was a cut-down model of the Defend’s SoC. And shortly after the Tegra X1 powered the Pixel C in 2015, NVIDIA silently bowed out of the smartphone and pill market.
NVIDIA’s Tegra chips have not graced Android telephones or tablets since 2015.
A few years later, the Tegra model would see a resurgence with the Nintendo Swap’s launch in 2017. However although the Swap turned a runaway success, the Tegra line didn’t see a renewed curiosity from smartphone manufacturers.
Nevertheless, NVIDIA continued to make use of the identical Tegra X1 chip for its Defend line, which had morphed right into a high-end Android TV box reasonably than a flat-out gaming console. With full help for then-emerging show specs like 4K video out, HDMI 2.0, HDR, and VP9 video codec help, it’s straightforward to see why the Defend turned universally beloved regardless of its premium price ticket.
Quick ahead almost a decade and the Defend stays the one direct hyperlink between NVIDIA and Android, however that doesn’t imply the corporate doesn’t affect the business anymore. Fairly the other, in reality.
NVIDIA’s unstated affect over Android
Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
Within the late 2010s, NVIDIA silently however strategically shifted its focus to its core strengths within the PC graphics market. Throughout this time, its dominance within the GPU business solidified and it benefited from two huge cryptocurrency mining hype cycles. Nevertheless, it was the corporate’s resolution to rebrand its line of GPUs from GTX to RTX that might create ripple results within the smartphone business.
Whereas NVIDIA was initially criticized for the best way it marketed ray tracing, the characteristic has since change into a staple on trendy GPUs. Cellular SoCs from Apple, Qualcomm, MediaTek, and Samsung all help hardware-accelerated ray tracing. And although we’ve got but to see many video games make the most of the characteristic on cellular, NVIDIA deserves credit score for advancing the expertise.
Quick ahead to the early 2020s and NVIDIA made headlines with its plan to buy Arm for $40 billion. Arm’s CPU structure and cores are present in nearly each cellular chip available on the market, from Tegra to Snapdragon. Nevertheless, the acquisition was in the end blocked by US regulators. Nonetheless, that hasn’t stopped NVIDIA from influencing the patron electronics business.
NVIDIA’s GPUs practice the vast majority of generative AI fashions that trendy smartphones depend on.
As corporations like Google and Microsoft race to combine extra AI options into their merchandise than ever earlier than, many of those new capabilities depend on generative AI fashions skilled instantly on NVIDIA’s {hardware}. Enterprise-grade NVIDIA GPUs just like the A100 and H100 are briefly provide for that purpose, with costs topping $40,000 every. However NVIDIA isn’t shifting away from the patron market and even the moveable electronics business.
NVIDIA is gearing as much as tackle Apple and Qualcomm as soon as once more — simply not within the smartphone business this time. In accordance with a Reuters report, NVIDIA is planning to launch a Home windows on Arm chip someday subsequent 12 months — proper after Qualcomm’s exclusivity take care of Microsoft involves an finish.
Likewise, we solely just lately heard the primary credible rumors of a successor to the Nintendo Swap, which is anticipated to debut later this 12 months or early 2025. In accordance with a number of sources, NVIDIA’s Tegra T239 processor would be the chip to energy this upcoming Nintendo console. If historical past repeats itself, we may lastly see the corporate launch a correct successor to the Defend TV backed by this Tegra chip.
The present-gen Defend TV gadgets from 2019 use the Tegra X1+, which is barely a beefed up variant of the unique Tegra X1 chip. It’s maybe because of this that we haven’t seen a brand new mainline launch of the Android TV field in half a decade. In the meantime, the corporate has been experimenting with RTX Video Tremendous Decision and SDR-to-HDR options on its GPUs to nice impact. Whereas 2019’s Defend Professional already included a succesful AI upscaling instrument, 5 years of DLSS developments plus RTX Video HDR may make the next-generation Defend a compelling buy.
Upscaling and automated HDR conversion should make their approach over to Android telephones and tablets too, because it may considerably enhance gaming and content material consumption experiences, though we’ll have to take a look at Qualcomm and MediaTek to step up. And by chance, they’re doing simply that with options like Snapdragon Recreation Tremendous Decision.
So whereas NVIDIA not produces smartphone SoCs because it as soon as tried with the Tegra line, its give attention to AI, video, and graphics continues to affect the Android and broader tech ecosystems. Its current stint because the world’s most respected firm solely lasted every week, however NVIDIA’s upward trajectory is unquestionable. Solely time will inform how lengthy this unprecedented development will final.
