Could VisionTek Be Going Kaput???

Industry sources seem to indicate that U.S.-based VisionTek, one of the primary resellers of NVIDIA Video Cards and an OEM of NVIDIA-based video cards for third parties, appears to be in the process of immediate asset liquidation by a trustee. VisionTek appeared to be on solid financial ground recently, and was reportedly in the process of looking for a lower cost manufacturing facility in the far east region to move its manufacturing in order to reduce costs and overhead.

This rumor is likely a big surprise to many industry analysts and consumers. NVIDIA could potentially be seriously impacted by the disappearance of VisionTek and, if this industry rumor proves true, NVIDIA would be in a position of having to scramble to find an immediate replacement vendor. NVIDIA is rumored to have two new chips, the NV28 and NV30, that it will most likely need to get into the retail market before the end of the 2002 holiday shopping season, and it may be hard pressed to now meet this time line. Further, industry scuttlebutt seems to indicate that NVIDIA has poured large amounts of cash into VisionTek in an effort to keep VisionTek afloat. Sources at both NVIDIA and VisionTek were both unavailable for comment.

At least for the time being, resellers and consumers should proceed carefully when considering the purchase of VisionTek products until the validity of these rumors is established one way or the other. Although there may be good deals on these products, and while these products have performed well in previous THG testing, if the VisionTek situation proceeds as rumors suggest, warranty and replacement issues could present a long-term problem. THG will continue to monitor this situation closely and will provide additional updates, as they are made available.