HTC to Use Nvidia's Tegra in New Phones

HTC, a company known for its stylish and feature-packed mobile phones, may be tapping into a new Nvidia technology for some of its 2009 handsets.

Tegra, a new hardware platform for MID's and mobile handsets, is a new high powered solution from Nvidia. Known primarily for its GeForce video cards and nForce motherboards, the CA-based company is diving into the mobile market. Announced last year, Tegra is the total package, combining an ARM CPU, an Nvidia GPU, and a myriad of other components onto a single board small enough to be used in a smartphone or Mobile Internet Device (MID).

Since its announcement last year, there has been very, very little in the ways of hardware announcements for Tegra, leaving many wondering about the platform's future. However, analysts are now saying that Tegra will be making an appearance with HTC. "We believe that HTC has selected the [Nvidia] Tegra applications processor for a new handset design that will ramp in [the second half of 2009]," said Doug Freedman, an analyst with American Technology Research."We estimate Tegra could add $100M to 2H09 results. This revenue will likely be very high margin, given the low-power design in a small-profile package is helping HTC achieve small form factors."

When demoed at last year's Nvision conference, the Tegra platform was impressive to say the least. The unlabeled device used in the tech demo was able to effortlessly play Quake III, as well as output HD video via a mini HDMI jack. That, combined with full web browsing and whatever else HTC could put into a phone, could make for a sweet little number.

Like many other giants in the tech sector, Nvidia is feeling the squeeze of the recession. While the new GTX 295 and 285 graphics cards could help bolster the comany, entering a new market with a partner like HTC will undoubtedly help increase revenue.