Nvidia Q1 sales sink 42 percent

Nvidia has been feeling the impact of a receding global economy as much as anyone. In February, the graphics-chip designer reported fiscal year-end results that showed 2007's $797.6 million profit transformed to a $30 million loss in 2008. This week, those losses continued, as the Silicon Valley staple reported a first-quarter net loss of $201.3 million on revenues of $664 million, down 42 percent from a year prior.

Despite the clear setback, Nvidia president and CEO Jen-Hsun Huang put a positive spin on the results. "We made good progress managing expenses and significantly reducing inventory, while continuing to invest in our growth strategies," he said. "The GPU is ever more central to our computing experience. There is a rapidly growing number of applications that rely on the GPU, and the industry is gearing up to launch the next-generation operating systems that adopt GPU computing."

Nvidia's graphics chipset can be found in Sony's PlayStation 3, which has also seen lackluster interest. Recounting some recent wins during the quarter, Nvidia said that it has increased its market share for stand-alone desktop GPUs from 63 percent to 69 percent.