As the doom and gloom spreads throughout world, the IT industry is being hit particularly hard. Recent sales figures suggest customers are turning away from purchasing expensive/non-critical hardware components, with gaming the latest area to be hit.
Nvidia, known globally for their graphics components, have posted a shocking fourth quarter sales result - the type to give the overall PC gaming industry a real scare. According to an AP news report, total revenue for Nvidia is down from US$1.2 billion a year ago to just US$481 million now.
The rumours we reported of Nvidia building a x86 chip may be exactly what they need to stimulate new product demand, as the staggering drop in revenue suggests the downturn in IT/electronics purchases may have been underestimated by the industry.
nVidia's other hope could be the GeForce 3D Vision, which we reported on at CES this year, though the public will have to warm up to the idea of wearing geeky-looking glasses.
Other technologies nVidia is banking on are the Ion platform for netbooks, and PhysX - a technology with big potential, and some big competition.
Nvidia are not the only hardware manufacturer to be hit hard by the global economic crisis.
Recent losses have also been reported by Sharp, Sony, Samsung, Panasonic, Hitachi and Intel, with each company holding a diverse portfolio of consumer and business electronic assets.