Nvidia in 2019 may have had some pretty stiff competition from its main rival. However, that does not mean that the manufacturer of the graphics card (GPU) has been removed from its high position. Yes, it suffered a loss of revenue starting in 2018, as well as some setbacks, notably due to release delays and discovered security vulnerabilities. Also, let's face it, AMD has made a pretty valiant attempt to usurp the throne with its impressive but more affordable cards. However, Nvidia's popular GPUs are still the king of the hill (we're looking at you, Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti) when it comes to gaming, design, and content creation, keeping it in the crown. In fact, thanks to its RTX products, Nvidia has reasserted its dominance in the graphics card market. With its RTX Super range launching in the summer of 2019, we're confident it'll remain so come 2020. The long-awaited RTX 2080 Ti Super hasn't made an appearance yet, if it even exists. And 2020 definitely looks very promising for the manufacturer, with its 7nm amp architecture due to appear in June 2020. But before we look ahead to its future, let's first take a look at what Nvidia has achieved in 2019, as well as what it could have been better.
Awesome games at an affordable price.
Nvidia ended 2018 on a high note: not only did it release the GeForce RTX 2070 and RTX 2080 graphics cards, which offered decent 4K gaming as well as ray tracing to the masses, but only if they were willing to pay the high price. But the company has also unleashed its beasts: the RTX 2080 Ti, which remains unbeatable in mainstream gaming, and the Titan RTX, which lives up to its name. It hasn't been done. Starting in January 2019, the GeForce RTX 2060 hit the streets to the delight of RTX graphics card fans who may not have had enough money to afford higher-end cards. In fact, the RTX 2060 was the mid-range graphics card of your dreams, armed with ray tracing and enough power for 4K at 30fps. Now only the entry-level market remained to be covered. Nvidia also had a few tricks up its sleeve. February 2019 saw the release of the GeForce GTX 1660 Ti in the budget sector, proving to be more than capable but generally more affordable than the RTX 2060. The GTX 1660 and GTX 1650 followed in spring 2019, with a layout of Lightning on the GTX 1660 and 1660 Ti will follow soon after. These have rounded up the queues for Nvidia to have a capable graphics card for you, whatever your needs or budget.
AMD gets value for money
There was a lot of hype behind AMD's Navi cards before they were released, especially since leaks showed how they rivaled Nvidia's existing RTX cards while lowering the price for budget-eager gamers. During a hot minute there, the future looked Grim for Nvidia: After all, the Radeon RX 5700 is a juicier option than the RTX 2060 in terms of value, and the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT is up against the RTX 2070 at a much better price. Fortunately for Nvidia, AMD hasn't introduced ray tracing to its new cards, and appears to be focusing its efforts, at least for now, on the budget and mid-range markets. And, so far, none are close to the performance offered by the RTX 2080 Ti.
Pull out your best-selling graphics cards
However, with AMD starting to ramp up sales with its affordable alternatives, Nvidia had to do something. Instead of launching an entirely new lineup, though, Nvidia simply gave the specs of its RTX (and GTX) cards a boost and added the word "Super" to their names. It was a bit of a gamble, but it has largely paid off. The RTX 2070 Super is up to 24% faster than the RTX 2070, with an average performance increase of 16%, for the same price; and the RTX 2060 Super offers pretty much the same as its predecessor. The RTX 2080 Super, on the other hand, doesn't really offer much of a bump in specs than the RTX 2080. However, it's also $100 cheaper and gets you closer to the RTX 2080 Ti in terms of performance, which is something. Although these cards can be much more expensive than their AMD rivals for little difference in performance, they also have the advantage of ray tracing. So for people who decide to stay with Nvidia or switch to AMD, the option to stay is more compelling than ever, even if AMD still beats Nvidia on price.
The death of cryptocurrency
Along with AMD, Nvidia has definitely ridden the crypto wave at its peak, benefiting from the increase in mining graphics card sales. Unfortunately, that wave eventually crashed, dealing a hit to Nvidia's sales. After announcing its results for the second quarter of fiscal 2019, it was revealed that Nvidia's revenue had fallen by 17%, which is huge. On the upside, the manufacturer beat analysts' expectations, coming in at €2.58 billion instead of €2.54 billion. With gaming still as popular as ever, and Nvidia's gaming products accounting for over 50% of its total revenue, it doesn't like its fight against lost cryptocurrency sales. As its chief financial officer, Colette Kress, said, "Our business is essentially back to business."
Nvidia Shield becomes the video player to beat
Nvidia Shield TV is the best Android streaming box since its launch in 2015, but it needs to be updated since 2017. Thankfully, it revealed in August 2019 not one, but two models on the way. About two months later, the Nvidia Shield TV and Nvidia Shield TV Pro hit the streets to rave reviews. In 2019, Nvidia's streaming players continue to be the best, offering things like premium 4K/HDR streaming, AI image scaling, and the GeForce Now service, all wrapped up in new looks.