Revenue from Nvidia’s crypto-mining graphics chips fell sharply between Q3 and Q4 2021.
They don’t take. Sales of chips dedicated to crypto-mining from the manufacturer Nvidia continue to decline. Revenue from this activity decreased by 77% between Q3 and Q4 2021, from $105 million to $24 million.
According to the company’s recent statement, its Crypto Mining Processors (CMPs) revenue amounted to $550 million for 2021. That’s just 0.2 per cent of its total revenue of $26.91 billion over the same period.
These amounts align with a prediction previously made by Colette Kress, the company’s chief financial officer. It estimated that CMP revenue “would decrease quarter-over-quarter to negligible levels in Q4.”
Throughout the year, CMP’s sales fell below expectations, despite a promising start. In Q2, revenue was only $266 million, versus guidance of $400 million. It continued to fall to just $105 million in the next quarter.
But not to worry about the markets: Nividia’s total revenue in fiscal year 2021 is up 61% compared to the previous year.
Nvidia: “crypto-bridled” GPUs to reserve them for gamers
Nvidia had developed a series of specialized crypto-mining equipment to contain crypto-miners demand for its graphics chips (GPUs). While Bitcoin miners have long since abandoned these in favour of specialized ASIC miners, it can always be attractive to mine other assets, such as Ether, using a GPU.
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Following the reaction of PC players, who could no longer afford graphics cards, Nvidia decided to restrict its GPUs to make them “less desirable” for minors. The Californian company then launched a range of chips specialized in crypto-mining.
In its latest statement, Nvidia states that while its GPUs can mine cryptocurrencies, it has “limited visibility into [miners’] impact on the total demand for GPUs.” The firm mentions, in particular, the volatility of crypto-markets and updates to some blockchains, such as Ethereum, which should switch this year to a validation protocol by proof of stake without any miner.
The chipmaker reiterated its commitment to limit crypto-mining possibilities with its “classic” GPUs, adding that “almost all Nvidia GPUs with the Ampere architecture are ‘Lite Hash Rate’ [with a restricted hash rate] in order to favor gamers.”
The low interest in Nvidia’s specialized crypto-mining chips does not seem to have dampened the enthusiasm of some of its competitors. Last month, the giant Intel revealed that it was working on the creation of a Bitcoin mining chip “efficient in energy consumption”.
