designs, develops, and markets graphics processors as well as related software and hardware products. The company has played a pioneering role in the development of the graphics processing unit (GPU), a type of chip or electronic circuit capable of rendering graphics for display on electronic devices. GPUs were originally designed for the PC graphics market and video gaming industry. But because GPUs are capable of complex computational calculations, NVIDIA’s architecture has become a crucial technology for artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, autonomous vehicles, robotics, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), as well as cryptocurrency mining.1
NVIDIA was founded in 1993 by current Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jensen Huang, Chris Malachowsky, and Curtis Priem. The company introduced the GeForce 256 in 1999, calling it the world’s first GPU.23 In January of that same year, NVIDIA went public through an initial public offering (IPO).4 Today, the company’s GPUs power many of the world’s fastest supercomputers.5
NVIDIA’s headquarters are located in Santa Clara, California.6 The company is classified as a member of the technology sector. It operates within the semiconductor industry and some of its main rivals include, Intel Corp. (INTC), Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD), and Xilinx Inc. (XLNX).78 NVIDIA generated net income of $4.3 billion on $16.7 of revenue in its 2021 fiscal year (FY), which ended Jan. 31, 2021.9
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- NVIDIA designs and develops GPUs and software for PC graphics, video games, AI, machine learning, AR and VR, cryptocurrency mining.
- Its competitors include Intel Corp. (INTC), Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD), and Xilinx Inc. (XLNX).
- NVIDIA earned $4.3 billion in net income on $16.7 billion in FY 2021, ended Jan. 31, 2021.
- NVIDIA and Arm, a U.K.-based semiconductor company that NVIDIA agreed to acquire, recently submitted a report to U.K. regulators urging approval of the acquisition.
Recent Developments
- On Jan. 10, 2022, NVIDIA and Arm submitted a 28-page report to the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). The report countered the deal’s critics and outlined why the acquisition should be approved. NVIDIA announced plans to buy Arm 16 months ago, in September 2020. In November 2021, the U.K. authority launched an expanded investigation into the proposed merger, citing concerns that it would be anticompetitive and create national security risks (see the “What’s Happening with NVIDIA’s Acquisition of ARM?” Q&A section below).10
- On Jan. 10, 2022, NVIDIA announced that it acquired Bright Computing, a software company specializing in high performance computing (HPC) systems. Companies in a range of industries such as healthcare and financial services use Bright’s software to set up and run HPC clusters. Clusters are groups of servers linked together in a single unit by high-speed networks. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.11
