NVIDIA G71 Chips In Short Supply?

With motherboard makers maintaining a conservative outlook for the second quarter, a shortage of NVIDIA G71 (GeForce 7900 GTX/GT) graphics chips may have emerged in both Europe and the US market.

Reports of shortages of the high-end chips have appeared since the product was released late in the first quarter, with sources at motherboard makers stating that NVIDIA did not aggressively push the product. Motherboard makers, for their part, were conservative about placing aggressive orders moving into the traditional slow season in the second quarter, the sources explained.

NVIDIA Taiwan responded by saying that it only produces high-end chips on customer request and the company aims to preserve supply/demand balance for its products.

Other market sources speculated that NVIDIA may be facing foundry issues manufacturing the G71 on 90nm node. The relatively low yields NVIDIA is seeing at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is prompting the company to adopt more controls on its shipment allotments, the sources claimed.

In response, TSMC indicated that it has been shipping 80nm and 90nm products to customers and its shipments are smooth and on schedule.

However, the sources at Taiwan motherboard makers commented that mobo maker have yet to realize any impact from any shortage and remain conservative about the second quarter.

Source: DigiTimes

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