EVGA to stop production of Nvidia graphics cards due to abusive attitude

Hot potato: Relations between Nvidia and one of its main board partners seem to have reached a breaking point. EVGA will not be producing RTX 40 series GPUs, effectively leaving the graphics card market entirely. Possibly heralding the end of EVGA, this decision could draw more attention to business interactions between GPU makers and board partners.

In an exclusive report, EVGA told Gamers Nexus that it will not be selling Nvidia graphics cards after the RTX 30 series. The company will continue to support current customer warranties, but expects to sell remaining inventory by the end of 2022.

The main reason for the squabbling is that Nvidia’s Founders Edition 30-series GPUs are undermining the EVGA options of these cards, especially since Nvidia recently cut prices significantly to clear inventory.

GPU manufacturers increased supply in response to the crypto boom, but then the crash and recent merger of Ethereum had them scrambling to get rid of unsold inventory, competing with a deluge of used cards as they prepare to launch a new generation. Board makers like EVGA say they can’t absorb those hits the way Nvidia can, and EVGA says it’s losing hundreds of dollars on every RTX 3080 or RTX 3090 sold.

The council partner also accuses Nvidia of not providing MSRP information when launching new GPUs. EVGA does not know the final price at which it will sell the cards until Nvidia announces the proposed prices to the public. The GPU manufacturer also sets price minimums and maximums, limiting EVGA’s ability to price its options based on how it tweaks overclocking or cooling systems.

EVGA currently lists itself as Nvidia’s #1 authorized video card sales partner in the US and UK, and Nvidia GPUs account for about three-quarters of EVGA’s gross revenue. In addition, the company does not sell AMD or Intel cards and does not intend to do so after the split with Nvidia. Power supplies make up the bulk of the rest of EVGA’s business, but it’s hard to imagine what the company will look like in the next year or two without GeForce products.

The decision to leave the GPU business did not come suddenly or recently. EVGA says they notified Nvidia in April after several attempts to renegotiate the terms of the partnership. EVGA CEO and Founder Andrew Hahn said the decision to leave Nvidia was easy and difficult to work with. Khan called the choice a matter of principle, not money.

Khan says he has no intention of selling EVGA for fear that investors will change its identity and culture. The company also doesn’t want to lay off anyone, but it seems almost inevitable if it gives up its main source of income.