CRN Interview: Nvidia Channel Chief Gives Take On System Builders

CRN: How is the release of Microsoft Windows Vista affecting graphics technology? And how will that affect system builders?

Lonergan: Vista has raised the bar in terms of the technology required to run graphics. There's a variety of impacts to the system builder in terms of graphics and memory particularly. We and Microsoft and the industry have been talking to system builders for the last year about enabling them. System builders are already up-specing their systems for Vista through the various channels they serve. You do need a dedicated GPU to get the premium Aero effect. I think that the marketplace is beginning to understand that. It takes time and momentum. But for the system builders, it provides them an opportunity to up-spec. It provides them the opportunity to upgrade their various customers in whatever segments they're in. Generally, the system builders are fairly cognizant about Vista.

CRN: How long will it take before integrated motherboards for Vista will be available?

Lonergan: They already are. We've been shipping UMA solutions for AMD for a few years. Vista requires DX9 [DirectX 9], and we have a family that has been shipping for a year, year and a half, that are already Vista-certified. On the Intel side, we do not yet have a UMA solution, but that is something that we will be working on for this year. On the Intel side, [users] would have to use an add-on card.

CRN: Does Nvidia have a solution yet for DX10?

Lonergan: We've been shipping DX10 hardware for some time now. DX10 content, applications and games will be coming to the market soon. We're the only vendor shipping GPU hardware for DX10.

CRN: How does Nvidia work with the channel? Nvidia does not sell video cards that can be plugged into a system.

Lonergan: We are providing technology in a number of market segments. First, we enable the board partners. These are companies like EVGA, XFX, BFG, PNY, AsusTek, MSI, Gigabyte, a variety of players who are focusing on different segments and marketplaces.

Our job in channel operations is to help educate and make the general channel market aware of all those various technologies and initiatives to create more market pull and market momentum for our board partners in servicing their various channels.

My job is not to sell products directly to e-tailers or retailers or system builders, but rather to influence and educate and make sure all those various channel entities are up to date with all of our product initiatives.

CRN: What are some ways you influence the market?

Lonergan: First, we use different advertising mediums and different programs. The channel is incredibly diverse. I think some people might pigeonhole Nvidia in the gaming segment, the enthusiast segment, high-end graphics. If you actually look at the various products and segments we're covering, it's everything from solution VARs with high-end Quadro-based [graphics] products to, yes, the gaming market, the enthusiast market, but also the mainstream market, the retail and e-tail market, the distribution sector.

It's very diverse, which I think makes it very interesting and challenging. Which means we have to deploy a couple different avenues. We have a few sales teams who go out and call on the larger channel partners. And we have an inside sales team, which calls on the thousands of smaller white-box resellers, bringing the latest information to them.

On top of that, there are programs we deliver to channel partners. And we customize them depending on whether it's for an e-tailer, a retailer, a system builder or a distributor, which are the four main channel segments. Then, we have our outside board partners who are servicing the various channels.

CRN: One of the biggest events in this industry is the acquisition of your rival ATI by AMD. How has that impacted Nvidia?

Lonergan: If you look at the overall business trends and if you talk to our customers, since that happened, things are pretty good in terms of our fundamental business strategy [which] really hasn't changed. Technically, we're innovating on both platforms—AMD and Intel—across a number of different form factors, from desktops through mobile to servers. So that hasn't changed.

Then, if you look at the go-to-market strategy, what my team is responsible for, once again, that hasn't changed. We run activities with both partners, AMD and Intel, through the channels in the U.S. and across the world.

We believe it's really important to stay focused. And our focus is graphics. We're extending the graphics into other segments, for sure, but our core technology and our core strength is [that] we have the largest and best team of graphics IT experts in the world. And what we're going to do is harness that on both platforms—not one or the other, but both.

Our chipset product line is top-to-bottom with AMD. And with Intel, it has been expanding pretty fast these past 12 months.

CRN: Before the acquisition of ATI by AMD, most of the Nvidia chipset focus was on the AMD platform, right?

Lonergan: If you look at the number of SKUs, there are certainly more on the AMD platform. But we started our nForce business on the Intel platform well before the acquisition. We had a series of products on the market before the acquisition. We've been simply extending our presence in the Intel marketplace and to the Intel channels also.

CRN: Has the acquisition of ATI pushed Nvidia closer to Intel?

Lonergan: I think we're focusing on both, as we did before the acquisition. In terms of my responsibility in the channel, we've run co-promotions before and we've run co-promotions after. At the end of the day, what we're doing is providing to the end-user through our various channel partners the best graphics experience. And we think we can do that through both platforms.

More: Q&A With John Lonergan