nVidia and Microsoft announced that the companies have settled all issues related to pricing of the Microsoft Xbox GPU (graphics) and MCP (audio and networking) chipset and have ended the arbitration between them. In addition to resolving this pricing dispute, the two companies have agreed to collaborate on future cost reductions for the Xbox. More details will be provided during nVidia's quarterly conference call to be held February 13, 2003.
This news may in fact put an end to ATI's bid to sneak into the XBox project right under nVidia's nose. It does however, also demonstrate the importance nVidia assign to their collaboration with Microsoft on XBox. Many had suggested that the graphics giant was planning to withdraw from the console business in order to focus all efforts on the desktop battle with ATI. Apparently that is not the case.
This is a win for both companies, and we couldn't be more delighted with the results, said Jen-Hsun Huang, president and CEO at nVidia. nVidia and Microsoft can now take our partnership to the next level and focus our substantial resources to maximize the full potential of Xbox game console.
With the arbitration resolved, we look forward to continuing the partnership between Microsoft and nVidia and turning our focus to building on the great success of the Xbox platform, stated Robbie Bach, senior vice president of Microsoft and Chief Xbox Officer.
