Manufacturers said that the recent tight supply is mainly because the specifications of components used in the GeForce4 Ti 4200 cards are different from those in GeForce4 Ti 4400 and 4600 products, as the DDR memory adopted by 4200 cards are not based on the same high-end FCPGA (flip-chip plastic grid array) packaging process as the 4400 and 4600 models.
Among Nvidia's high-end NV 25 core-based product line, the GeForce4 Ti 4200 chip is the latest to hit the market. Delivering similar performance but at a cheaper price, the GeForce4 Ti 4200 was withheld for launch by Nvidia, for fear that the product might affect the sales of two other, higher-end chips, the GeForce4 Ti 4400 and 4600.
The GeForce4 Ti 4400 and 4600 chips are sold for a respective US$100 and US$200 more than the 4200 chip.
Despite its later launch, the GeForce4 Ti 4200 chip's popularity is rising quickly. Graphics card manufacturers estimate that deliveries of the chip should now account for around 60% of Nvidia's overall NV25 line shipments, and the ratio is expected to climb further.
To cushion the sales blow brought by integrated chipsets, card manufacturers are shifting production to high-end lines, hoping to consolidate their market shares. Given that Nvidia's new-generation chips will not be introduced until the end of the third quarter, the GeForce4 Ti 4200 card has become a crucial product in the high-end segment. How to better control component supply will be an important issue to card manufacturers' market presence.
Source: DigiTimes