Nvidia Competitors: 2 Rivals In The Crucial Chip Making Sector

Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) is a popular company and a hot name in gaming, A.I., and mobile computing alike. In fact, Nvidia is fast becoming a favorite stock of many as it goes from strength to strength, reeling in clients such as Sony, Toyota, and Tesla. 

However, if you want to hedge your bets or don’t feel like Nvidia quite fits your portfolio, here are two top competitors to Nvidia which might prove to be exactly what you are looking for. 

1. Advanced Micro Devices

Any esports investor or gaming enthusiast worth their salt knows of the longstanding competition between Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD) and Nvidia. Whilst Nvidia may be the one to beat in the best graphics processing units (GPUs), it shares the market with AMD and Intel (NASDAQ: INTC). 

AMD tends to focus on lower and mid-range priced GPUs as opposed to the premium units put out by Nvidia. As well as this, AMD is also working with Hewlett Packard Enterprises on the El Capitan Project to power the world’s fastest supercomputer, and has been vastly improving its CPU offerings which has led to big growth in data center sales.

AMD has had a good start to 2022. Its recent earnings call saw it report record revenue for both the quarter and the year, with growth of 49% and 68% respectively. The company also announced a fortified relationship with Google that will see the Big Tech company increase its use of AMD processors in its cloud services. 

AMD’s quarterly report has shown continued growth, with operating income up 112% YoY. Despite the company experiencing a recent downturn as a result of a volatile market, there appears to be plenty to look forward to from AMD.

2. Intel

By the end of Q3 2021, Intel had a 62% market share of PC GPUs whilst AMD held 18% and Nvidia held 20%. For this last quarter, Intel reported quite a respectable Q4. While Intel’s earnings per share of $1.09 — down 26% YoY — and revenue of $19.5 billion both came in above analyst estimates and the company’s own forecast, shares have still dropped amid widen market turmoil. 

Since 2017, Intel has been slowly losing ground to competitors in the CPU market, but investors shouldn’t dismiss this enterprising giant so quickly — in laptops alone, Intel accounts for roughly 75% of CPUs in 2021. This is down 10% on 2020’s numbers after Apple began producing its own chips, breaking up a 14-year partnership between the two companies. 

In other markets, Intel could be well-placed to rival Nvidia in the future of autonomous vehicles as it spent $900 million on ‘Moovit’ in 2020, an Israeli mobility as a service (MaaS), AI solutions company. Intel already owned ‘Mobileye,’ which it plans to take public via IPO, as well as several computer vision companies. These assets including a driverless platform — co-developed with the likes of BMW, Fiat Chrysler, and Delphi — sets Intel up as a potential powerhouse in the driverless car markets going forward.