2011

Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with “Item 1A. Risk Factors”, “Item 6. Selected Financial Data”, our Consolidated Financial Statements and related Notes thereto, as well as other cautionary statements and risks described elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, before deciding to purchase, hold or sell shares of our common stock.

 

Overview



Our Company



NVIDIA is known to millions around the world for creating the graphics chips that make their PC amazing when playing games or making home movies. With the invention of the GPU, we brought forth to the world the power of computer graphics. Today, we reach well beyond PC graphics. Our energy-efficient processors power a broad range of products, from smart phones to supercomputers. Our mobile processors are used in cell phones, tablets and auto infotainment systems. PC gamers rely on our GPUs to enjoy visually immersive worlds. Designers use them to create visual effects in movies and create everything from golf clubs to jumbo jets. And researchers utilize GPUs to push the frontiers of science with high-performance computing. NVIDIA has nearly 5,000 patents granted and pending worldwide, including many inventions essential to modern computing.

 

NVIDIA solutions are based on two important technologies: the GPU and the mobile processor. Both are highly complex chips, designed by NVIDIA engineers, and manufactured for us by a third party chip foundry. GPUs are the engines of visual computing, a field that includes computer graphics, image processing, to computer vision. Visual computing is the science and art of using computers to understand, create, and enhance images. One of the most complex processors ever created, the most advanced GPUs contain billions of transistors and require thousands of man years to create. We have three GPU product brands: GeForce, which creates amazing visual experiences for gamers; Quadro, the standard in visual computing for designers and digital artists; and Tesla, which accelerates applications for scientists and researchers.

 

Mobile processors incorporate CPU and GPU technologies to deliver an entire computer system on a single chip, or system-on-chip. Modern mobile processors are remarkable in their computing capabilities yet consume a hundred times less energy than a typical PC. Tegra is our mobile processor and is built for applications ranging from smartphones, tablets, and notebook PCs to TVs and cars. We believe energy-efficient mobile computing will revolutionize how computers are used in our lives. Tegra is a major new growth business for us.

We were incorporated in California in April 1993 and reincorporated in Delaware in April 1998. Our headquarter facilities are in Santa Clara, California.

Reporting Segments

 

We have three primary financial reporting segments - GPU Business; Professional Solutions Business, or PSB; and Consumer Products Business, or CPB.  

GPU

GeForce discrete graphics and chipset products and notebook PCs

Licensing fees from Intel