In a shocking decision, GPU maker EVGA is reportedly terminating its partnership with Nvidia and exiting the PC graphics card market.
“EVGA will cease all video card manufacturing operations,” the company told the YouTube channel Gamers Nexus.
So far, EVGA has only mentioned in an official forum post that it won’t be producing Nvidia’s upcoming graphics cards, which will include the RTX 4000 series.
“EVGA will not carry the next generation graphics cards,” the forum post says, without providing much context. The post adds: “EVGA will continue to support the existing current generation products. EVGA will continue to provide the current generation products.”
However, in an interview with Gamers Nexus, EVGA executives said it notified Nvidia about the company’s decision to bail from the graphics card business back in April. The company is ending the partnership, citing a lack of “respect” from Nvidia’s side.
One major problem is how Nvidia will refuse to reveal basic information about its PC graphics cards, such as the price, to partners. The company will only do so when Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang announces the GPUs during the formal product introduction.
“We’re told this is even true for the cost to buy the (GPU) chip,” Gamers Nexus host Steve Burke says in the video. “It’s hard to run a business when you don’t even know the cost of your product is—that you’re imminently launching.”
Another issue is how Nvidia can restrict prices on some cards, at the high and low ends. On top of this, Nvidia will release limited-edition Founders Edition graphics cards that can undercut EVGA’s own products in terms of price.
The current oversupply situation with GPUs is also forcing EVGA to drastically cut prices on its RTX 3000 cards, resulting in “hundreds” of dollars in losses for when certain product models are sold. As a result, the company alleges that being an Nvidia partner is “not ultimately profitable.”
In response to the news, Nvidia simply said: “We’ve had a great partnership with EVGA over the years and will continue to support them on our current generation of products. We wish [EVGA CEO] Andrew [Han] and our friends at EVGA all the best.”
EVGA, which was founded in 1999, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. But according to Gamers Nexus, the company expects to sell all remaining stock of its RTX 3000 GPUs by the end of this year. EVGA also plans to remain in business selling other PC component products, although it’s preparing to downsize. Seventy-eight percent of EVGA's revenue comes from video card sales, Gamers Nexus says.
In its forum post, the EVGA adds: “EVGA is committed to our customers and will continue to offer sales and support on the current lineup. Also, EVGA would like to say thank you to our great community for the many years of support and enthusiasm for EVGA graphics cards.”
For now, EVGA also has no plans to make GPUs for Intel or AMD.