If you look at it that way, the Icera factor may be the company’s ticket to gatecrash into the upcoming 4G LTE party. And don’t forget that Tegra group revenue went up by 90% on a year-over-year basis. Already, Tegra 4 sales are better placed than Tegra 3 sales at about this time. The middle of this year should see the emergence of more devices powered by Tegra 4 — and that’s when the story should get really interesting.
At the same time, NVIDIA needs to be careful not to get into the same kind of problems that Qualcomm faced with manufacturing partnerTaiwan Semiconductor Mfg. Co. Ltd. (ADR) (NYSE:TSM) last year, for the latter’s 28-nanometer production line. After all, Tegra 4 follows the same 28-nanometer production process. Qualcomm is a strong and sometimes overwhelming contender, butas I already said earlier, its Snapdragon processor line should be going in for a revamp sometime soon.
NVIDIA’s not the only one challenging Qualcomm’s near-monopoly in the LTE realm. PeerBroadcom Corporation (NASDAQ:BRCM)has gotten into the LTE race also, and is planning to launch an LTE-enabled chip of a very high standard, in terms of speed, compatibility, and its range of frequency bands around the world. Through this product, Broadcom, which is already an established name in the realm of chips that combine Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capabilities, is preparing to launch an assault on Qualcomm’s chip dominance in mobile processors. What’s also important is that Broadcom is touting this to be an ‘LTE-advanced’ chip, thus aiming at the cream of the market share.
At the same time, NIVIDIA hasn’t forgotten the loyal audience of gamers who depend on its chips. That brings us to another expected major boost to the company’s stock prices in the shape of Project Shield. The latter is a purely Android standalone gaming device that is powered by NVIDIA’s Tegra processor. Project Shield offers gamers access to both the Google Play Store and its own Tegra Zone. What’s important is the fact that Project Shield offers gamers the power of an open platform like Android. NVIDIA has been quick to recognize the growing importance of free-to-play, multiplayer gaming, and Project Shield can be a big step in this direction.
Tegra 4i, Icera and Project Shield – this company’s gathered fairly good ammunition to make it big in the current year. NVIDIA continues to score in the tablet space and has a great-looking balance sheet with a strong cash position. At this rate and given these fundamentals, this company should have a strong growth path, particularly in the second part of the year. Keep your faith in this stock. Fool on!
The article There’s Still No Reason To Doubt This Company originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Subhadeep Ghose.
Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
