Apparently NVIDIA
As Keanu would say: "Whoa"
So, should you throw out that dusty copy of Rosetta Stone
Here comes the rabble-rouser
You might have noticed NVIDIA in the news lately following Microsoft's
Huang's grandstanding on this topic has ruffled some feathers at central processor kingpin Intel
However, don't think Intel's ceding the graphics booty for AMD and NVIDIA to fight over. Sometime next year, Intel plans to roll out its Larrabee processor, which will be based on the x86 architecture common in central processors. It's a radically different approach, but Intel thinks the familiarity of Larrabee's architecture will make it easier to build software around its platform. Whether that's the winning approach or not remains to be seen.
More avenues of growth
There's a lot of noise for investors to sort through here, but the important thing to remember is that more and more computing needs are being offloaded to graphics processors. Examples of this movement abound, from the new OpenCL framework, which shares resources between the central processor and graphics processor more effectively, to industries such as oil exploration and finance choosing powerful graphics processors as their weapon of choice.
While the sheer magnitude of Huang's performance prediction might be more attention-grabbing than feasible, we've witnessed another shot in the central-processor-vs.-graphics-processor battles.
Foolish bottom line
Semiconductor investors along the value chain should take notice, and while bold predictions shouldn't be necessary to get their attention, the shift to a new kind of computing world has already begun. Watch this fight closely; Intel has a lot more to lose than it might let on.