Nvidia CEO: Shield selling out in stores but we're making more
CEO Jen-Hsun Huang expects the gaming device to "do quite well."
Nvidia's
Jen-Hsun Huang, speaking during a conference call following Nvidia's earnings announcement, said that everything Nvidia has shipped to retail partners has already sold out. It's only several thousand units, he said, but Nvidia is ramping up production to get more Shields into stores.
"It's still early, but we expect to do quite well with Shield," he said.Nvidia is traditionally known for making graphics processing units, or GPUs, found in computers and game consoles, but that business faces an uncertain future as the PC market struggles. Nvidia has been counting on its Tegra mobile chips to help offset weakness in its core PC market, but so far it hasn't been enough. Its latest push has been its Shield gaming device, Nvidia's first consumer product.
The Nvidia Shield is a portable gaming system that unites the controller and a 5-inch 1,280x720-pixel touch screen into one single package. The Shield can handle all Google Play apps and stream PC games from Nvidia-based computers through a Wi-Fi connection. It's one of the first to house the much-anticipated Tegra 4 processor and sets itself apart from others with its ability to stream full PC games over a Wi-Fi network.
The company started shipping Shield on July 31 for $300. Shield has largely received good reviews, though it has faced some criticism about a lack of games.
