Nvidia GTX 1660 and 1650 to Put Pricing Pressure on AMD in 2019 - Report

According to a DigiTimes report today, Nvidia is going to release one medium and one low-end GPU by the end of 2019, as an attempt to lower AMD's market share below 25 percent or even 20 percent, as well as to clear its inventory and maintain its revenues.

Nvidia Strikes Back?

According to DigiTimes’ sources, Nvidia will launch the GTX 1660 on March 15 and GTX 1650 on April 30, for a minimum price point of $229 and $179, respectively. However, the release date for the 1650 conflicts with a report from VideoCardz last week and HardOCP in January claiming the GTX 1650 will come out in March. 

The release of these GPUs would follow the company’s launch of the RTX 2060 last month at an MSRP of $350 / £330 and GTX 1660 Ti last week for a minimum price point of $280.

According to the DigiTimes report today, the GTX 1660 and GTX 1650 "are expected to bring heavy pricing pressure on AMD's mid-tier and low-end offerings such as Vega 64 / 65 and RX 590 / 580 / 570." That remains to be seen, as AMD is also expected to continue to lower prices on the Radeon RX 590 and 580 in response to Nvidia's GTX 1660 Ti moves. 

Crypto Mining Decline Is Still Hurting Nvidia

According to DigiTimes' sources, Nvidia will refocus its GPU business on the mid-end and low-end in the first half of this year. However, Nvidia seems to want to lower prices not just to steal market share from AMD, but also because it’s looking to clear its high inventory, caused by a shrinkage in demand in the cryptocurrency mining market. Furthermore, the lower price points may help stabilize the company's revenues, which have been in a declining trend lately.

In the fiscal quarter from November 2018 to January 2019, Nvidia saw a significant drop in both revenues and profits. The company’s revenue fell 24 percent on year and 31 percent on quarter to $2.205 billion, while its profits fell 49 percent on year and 54 percent on quarter to $567 million.

According to DigiTimes’ sources, it will take another quarter for Nvidia to clear its old inventory, and the company’s revenues are expected to stay flat compared to the previous quarter. Market watchers estimated that Nvidia’s revenue in 2019 will fall by 15-20 percent.