Q1'05 FORM 10Q


UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
________________
FORM 10-Q
[x]   QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
      For the quarterly period ended April 25, 2004
OR
[_]   TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

Commission file number: 0-23985

NVIDIA CORPORATION
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Delaware
94-3177549
(State or Other Jurisdiction of
(I.R.S. Employer
Incorporation or Organization)
Identification No.)

2701 San Tomas Expressway
Santa Clara, California 95050
(408) 486-2000
(Address, including Zip Code, of Registrant's Principal Executive Offices
and Registrant's Telephone Number, including Area Code)

----------------

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports) and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes [X] No [_]

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an accelerated filer (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes [X] No [_]

The number of shares of the registrant's common stock outstanding as of May 7, 2004 was 165,931,000 shares.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 

     

NVIDIA CORPORATION
FORM 10-Q
TABLE OF CONTENTS

 
 
 
PART I: FINANCIAL INFORMATION
 
Item 1.
Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements (Unaudited)
 
 
Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets as of April 25, 2004 and January 25, 2004
1
 
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income for the three months ended April 25, 2004 and April 27, 2003
2
 
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the three months ended April 25, 2004 and April 27, 2003
3
 
Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements
4
 
 
 
Item 2.
Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
10
 
 
 
Item 3.
Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
18
 
 
 
Item 4.
Controls and Procedures
29
 
 
 
 
PART II: OTHER INFORMATION
 
Item 1.
Legal Proceedings
30
 
 
 
Item 2.
Changes in Securities, Use of Proceeds and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
30
 
 
 
Item 3.
Defaults Upon Senior Securities
30
 
 
 
Item 4.
Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders
30
 
 
 
Item 5.
Other Information
30
 
 
 
Item 6.
Exhibits and Reports on Form 8-K
30
 
 
 
Signature
 
32


     

PART I. FINANCIAL INFORMATION
ITEM 1. CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Unaudited)

NVIDIA CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(In thousands)
(Unaudited)

 
  
April 25,
January 25,
 
  
2004
2004
 
 
 
ASSETS
    
 
    
 
  
Current assets:
    
 
    
 
  
Cash and cash equivalents
  
$
196,675
  
$
214,422
  
Marketable securities
    
460,628
    
389,621
  
Accounts receivable, net
    
205,308
    
196,631
  
Inventories
    
234,796
    
234,238
  
Prepaid expenses and other current assets
    
16,289
    
14,539
  
Deferred income taxes
    
3,261
    
3,261
  
   
 
 
Total current assets
    
1,116,957
    
1,052,712
  
Property and equipment, net
    
185,041
    
190,029
  
Deposits and other assets
    
7,255
    
7,731
  
Goodwill
    
108,780
    
108,909
  
Intangible assets, net
    
40,157
    
39,963
  
   
 
 
 
  
$
1,458,190
  
$
1,399,344
  
   
 
 
 
    
 
    
 
  
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
    
 
    
 
  
 
    
 
    
 
  
Current liabilities:
    
 
    
 
  
Accounts payable
  
$
214,618
  
$
185,342
  
Accrued liabilities
    
140,890
    
144,755
  
Current portion of capital lease obligations
    
3,043
    
4,015
  
   
 
 
Total current liabilities
    
358,551
    
334,112
  
Deferred income tax liabilities
    
8,609
    
8,609
  
Capital lease obligations, less current portion
    
345
    
856
  
Long-term liabilities
    
4,582
    
4,582
  
Stockholders’ equity:
    
 
    
 
  
Common stock
    
166
    
164
  
Additional paid-in capital
    
598,660
    
583,481
  
Deferred stock-based compensation
    
(5,085
)
  
(5,468
)
Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss), net
    
(1,145
)
  
850
  
Retained earnings
    
493,507
    
472,158
  
   
 
 
Total stockholders' equity
    
1,086,103
    
1,051,185
  
   
 
 
 
  
$
1,458,190
  
$
1,399,344
  
   
 
 

See accompanying notes to condensed consolidated financial statements.

 
  1  
 
 
NVIDIA CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME
(In thousands, except per share data)
(Unaudited)

 
  
Three Months Ended
 
  
April 25,
April 27,
 
  
2004
2003
   
 
 
 
    
 
    
 
  
Revenue
  
$
471,905
  
$
404,983
  
Cost of revenue
    
323,069
    
278,415
  
   
 
 
Gross profit
    
148,836
    
126,568
  
Operating expenses:
    
 
    
 
  
Research and development
    
77,750
    
59,310
  
Sales, general and administrative
    
47,206
    
40,910
  
   
 
 
Total operating expenses
    
124,956
    
100,220
  
   
 
 
Operating income
    
23,880
    
26,348
  
Interest income
    
2,851
    
5,607
  
Interest expense
    
(76
)
  
(3,994
)
Other income, net
    
32
    
249
  
   
 
 
Income before income tax expense
    
26,687
    
28,210
  
Income tax expense
    
5,338
    
8,463
  
   
 
 
Net income
  
$
21,349
  
$
19,747
  
   
 
 
Basic net income per share
  
$
0.13
  
$
0.12
  
   
 
 
Diluted net income per share
  
$
0.12
  
$
0.12
  
   
 
 
Shares used in basic per share computation
    
165,171
    
158,622
  
Shares used in diluted per share computation
    
178,479
    
167,925
  

See accompanying notes to condensed consolidated financial statements.
 
 
  2  
 
 
NVIDIA CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
(In thousands)
(Unaudited)
 
 
  
Three Months Ended
 
  
April 25,
April 27,
 
    
2004

 

 
2003
  
   
 
 
Cash flows from operating activities:
    
 
    
 
  
Net income
 
$
21,349
  
$
19,747
  
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:
    
 
    
 
  
Depreciation and amortization
    
23,412
    
15,958
  
Stock-based compensation
    
383
    
156
  
Allowance for doubtful accounts
    
(496
)
  
311
  
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
    
 
    
 
  
Accounts receivable
    
(8,181
)
  
(1,561
)
Inventories
    
(558
)
  
(20,739
)
Prepaid expenses and other current assets
    
(1,750
)
  
(6,185
)
Deposits and other assets
    
476
    
(2,030
)
Accounts payable
    
29,276
    
93,308
  
Accrued liabilities
    
(3,287
)
  
(3,026
)
Customer advance
    
862
    
(55,511
)
   
 
 
Net cash provided by operating activities
    
61,486
    
40,428
  
   
 
 
Cash flows from investing activities:
    
 
    
 
  
Purchases of marketable securities
    
(149,680
)
  
(275,252
)
Sales and maturities of marketable securities
    
75,348
    
185,786
  
Purchases of property, equipment and intangible assets
    
(18,599
)
  
(25,592
)
   
 
 
Net cash used in investing activities
    
(92,931
)
  
(115,058
)
   
 
 
Cash flows from financing activities:
    
 
    
 
  
Common stock issued under employee stock plans
    
15,181
    
7,846
  
Principal payments on capital leases
    
(1,483
)
  
(1,414
)
   
 
 
Net cash provided by financing activities
    
13,698
    
6,432
  
   
 
 
Change in cash and cash equivalents
    
(17,747
)
  
(68,198
)
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period
    
214,422
    
346,994
  
   
 
 
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period
  
$
196,675
  
$
278,796
  
   
 
 
 
    
 
    
 
  
Supplemental disclosures of cash flow information:
    
 
    
 
  
Cash paid for interest
  
$
75
  
$
7,312
  
   
 
 
Net refund of income taxes
  
$
(1,503
)
$
(1,045
)
   
 
 
 
    
 
    
 
  
Non cash activities:
    
 
    
 
  
Assets recorded under capital lease arrangements
  
$
-
  
$
1,255
  
   
 
 
Unrealized (gains)/losses from marketable securities
  
$
3,325
  
$
(657
)
   
 
 
 
    
 
    
 
  

See accompanying notes to condensed consolidated financial statements.
 
 
  3  
 
 
NVIDIA CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
(Unaudited)
Note 1 – Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Basis of presentation

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements were prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America for interim financial information and with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, Regulation S-X. In the opinion of management, all adjustments, consisting only of normal recurring adjustments except as otherwise noted, considered necessary for a fair presentation have been included. The results for the interim periods presented are not necessarily indicative of the results expected for any future period. The following information should be read in conjunction with the audited financial statements and notes thereto included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended January 25, 2004.

Reclassifications

Certain prior year income statement balances were reclassified to conform to the current period presentation.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates. On an on-going basis, we evaluate our estimates, including those related to revenue recognition, accounts receivable, inventories, valuation of long-lived assets, goodwill and income taxes. These estimates are based on historical facts and various other assumptions that we believe are reasonable.

Stock-Based Compensation

Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 148, or SFAS No. 148, Accounting for Stock-Based Compensation – Transition and Disclosure, amends the disclosure requirements of Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 123, or SFAS No. 123, Accounting for Stock-Based Compensation, to require more prominent disclosures in both annual and interim financial statements regarding the method of accounting for stock-based compensation and the effect of the method used on reported results.

We use the intrinsic value method, as prescribed by Accounting Principles Board Opinion No. 25, Accounting for Stock Issued to Employees, to account for our stock-based employee compensation plans. As such, compensation expense is recorded if on the date of grant the current fair value per share of the underlying stock exceeds the exercise price per share. Compensation cost for our stock-based compensation plans as determined consistent with SFAS No. 123, would have decreased net income to the pro forma amounts indicated below:

 
  
Three Months Ended
 
  
April 25,
April 27,
 
    
2004

 

 
2003
  
   
 
 
 
  
(In thousands, except per share data) 
Net income, as reported
  
$
21,349
  
$
19,747
  
Add: Stock-based employee compensation expense included in reported net income, net of related tax effects
    
306
    
--
  
Deduct: Stock-based employee compensation expense determined under fair value based method for all awards, net of related tax effects
    
(20,720
)
  
(16,143
)
   
 
 
Pro forma net income
  
$
935
  
$
3,604
  
   
 
 
Basic net income per share – as reported
  
$
0.13
  
$
0.12
  
Basic net income per share – pro forma
  
$
0.01
  
$
0.02
  
Diluted net income per share – as reported
  
$
0.12
  
$
0.12
  
Diluted net income per share – pro forma
  
$
0.01
  
$
0.02
  
 
 
  4  
 
 
NVIDIA CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS – (Continued)
(Unaudited)

Note 2 – New Accounting Pronouncements

In January 2003, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued Interpretation No. 46, or FIN 46, Consolidation of Variable Interest Entities, which addresses consolidation by business enterprises of variable interest entities, or VIEs, either: (1) that do not have sufficient equity investment at risk to permit the entity to finance its activities without additional subordinated financial support, or (2) in which the equity investors lack an essential characteristic of a controlling financial interest. In December 2003, the FASB completed deliberations of proposed modifications to FIN 46, or FIN 46(R), resulting in an effective date of no later than the first interim or annual period ending after March 15, 2004. The adoption of FIN 46(R) did not have an impact on our results of operations or financial position.

Note 3 - Net Income Per Share

Basic net income per share is computed using the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the period. Diluted net income per share is computed using the weighted average number of common and dilutive common equivalent shares outstanding during the period, using the treasury stock method. Under the treasury stock method, the effect of stock options outstanding is not included in the computation of diluted net income per share for periods when their effect is anti-dilutive. The following is a reconciliation of the numerators and denominators of the basic and diluted net income per share computations for the periods presented.

 
  
Three Months Ended
 
  
April 25,
April 27,
 
  
2004
2003
   
 
 
 
  
(In thousands, except per share data) 
Numerator:
    
 
    
 
  
Numerator for basic and diluted net income per share
  
$
21,349
  
$
19,747
  
 
    
 
    
 
  
Denominator:
    
 
    
 
  
Denominator for basic net income per share, weighted average shares
    
165,171
    
158,622
  
Effect of dilutive securities:
    
 
    
 
  
Stock options outstanding
    
13,308
    
9,303
  
   
 
 
Denominator for diluted net income per share, weighted average shares
    
178,479
    
167,925
  
   
 
 
 
    
 
    
 
  
Net income per share:
    
 
    
 
  
Basic net income per share
  
$
0.13
  
$
0.12
  
Diluted net income per share
  
$
0.12
  
$
0.12
  
 
Diluted net income per share does not include the effect of the following anti-dilutive common equivalent shares:

 
  
April 25,
April 27,
 
    
2004

 

 
2003
  
   
 
 
 
(In thousands) 
 
    
 
    
 
  
Stock options
    
11,681
    
16,919
  
Convertible debentures (common equivalent shares)
    
-
    
6,472
  
   
 
 
 
    
11,681
    
23,391
  
   
 
 

 
  5  
 
 
NVIDIA CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS – (Continued)
(Unaudited)

The weighted-average exercise price of stock options excluded from the computation of diluted net income per share was $29.20 and $22.30 for the three months ended April 25, 2004 and April 27, 2003, respectively. The convertible debentures were convertible into shares of common stock at a conversion price of $46.36 per share and were anti-dilutive for the three months ended April 27, 2003. The convertible debentures were no longer outstanding as of April 25, 2004 due to their redemption during the third quarter of fiscal 2004.

Note 4 – Guarantees

Financial Accounting Standards Board Interpretation No. 45, or FIN 45, Guarantor’s Accounting and Disclosure Requirements for Guarantees, Including Indirect Guarantees of Indebtedness of Others, requires that upon issuance of a guarantee, the guarantor must recognize a liability for the fair value of the obligation it assumes under that guarantee. In addition, FIN 45 requires disclosures about the guarantees that an entity has issued, including a rollforward of the entity’s product warranty liabilities.

We record a reduction to revenue for estimated product returns at the time revenue is recognized primarily based on historical return rates. The reductions to revenue for estimated product returns for the three months ended April 25, 2004 and April 27, 2003 are as follows:

Description
  
Balance at Beginning of Period
Additions (1)
Deductions (2)
Balance at End of Period
  
 
  
(In thousands)
Three months ended April 25, 2004
    
 
    
 
    
 
    
 
  
Allowance for sales returns
  
$
9,421
  
$
4,077
  
$
(5,432
)
$
8,066
  
   
 
 
 
 
Three months ended April 27, 2003
    
 
    
 
    
 
    
 
  
Allowance for sales returns
  
$
13,228
  
$
768
 
$
(1,916
)
$
12,080
  
   
 
 
 
 
 
    
 
    
 
    
 
    
 
  
______________
(1) Allowances for sales returns are charged as a reduction to revenue.

(2) Represents amounts written off against the allowance for sales returns.

In connection with certain agreements that we have executed in the past, we have at times provided indemnities to cover the indemnified party for matters such as tax, product and employee liabilities. We have also on occasion included intellectual property indemnification provisions in the terms of our technology related agreements with third parties. Maximum potential future payments cannot be estimated because many of these agreements do not have a maximum stated liability. However, historically costs related to these indemnification provisions have not been significant. As such, we have not recorded any liability in our condensed consolidated financial statements for such indemnifications.

Note 5 – Comprehensive Income

Comprehensive income consists of net income and other comprehensive income or loss. Other comprehensive income or loss components include unrealized gains or losses on available-for-sale securities. The components of comprehensive income, net of tax, were as follows:
 
 
  6  
 
 
NVIDIA CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS – (Continued)
(Unaudited)

 
  
Three Months Ended
 
  
April 25,
April 27,
 
  
2004
2003
   
 
  
(In thousands)
 
    
 
    
 
  
Net income
  
$
21,349
  
$
19,747
  
Net change in unrealized gains (losses) on available-for-sale securities
   
(3,276
)
  
657
  
Tax effect of unrealized gains (losses) on available-for-sale securities
    
1,320
    
(263
)
Reclassification adjustments for net realized gains on available-for-sale securities included in net income
    
(49
)
  
(289
)
Tax effect of reclassification adjustments for net realized gains on available-for-sale securities included in net income
    
10
    
87
  
   
 
 
Total comprehensive income
  
$
19,354
  
$
19,939
 
   
 
 

Note 6 –3dfx Asset Purchase

During fiscal year 2002, we completed the purchase of certain assets from 3dfx Interactive, Inc., or 3dfx, for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $74.2 million. The 3dfx asset purchase was accounted for under the purchase method of accounting and closed on April 18, 2001. Under the terms of the Asset Purchase Agreement, the cash consideration due at the closing was $70.0 million, less $15.0 million that was loaned to 3dfx pursuant to a Credit Agreement dated December 15, 2000. The Asset Purchase Agreement also provided, subject to the other provisions thereof, that if 3dfx properly certified that all its debts and other liabilities had been provided for, then we would have been obligated to pay 3dfx two million shares of NVIDIA common stock. If 3dfx could not make such a certification, but instead properly certified that its debts and liabilities could be satisfied for less than $25.0 million, then 3dfx could have elected to receive a cash payment equal to the amount of such debts and liabilities and a reduced number of shares of our common stock, with such reduction calculated by dividing the cash payment by $25.00 per share. If 3dfx could not certify that all of its debts and liabilities had been provided for, or could not be satisfied, for less than $25.0 million, we would not be obligated under the agreement to pay any additional consideration for the assets. We are currently party to litigation relating to certain aspects of the asset purchase and 3dfx’s subsequent bankruptcy in October 2002. Please see Part II, Item 1, “Legal Proceedings” for further information regarding this litigation.
 
The 3dfx asset purchase price of $70.0 million and direct transaction costs of $4.2 million were allocated based on fair values presented below.

 
  
Fair Market Value
Straight-Line Amortization Period
   
 
  
(In thousands)
(Years)
 
    
 
    
 
  
Property and equipment
  
$
2,433
    
1-2
  
Trademarks
    
11,310
    
5
  
Goodwill
    
60,418
    
--
  
   
       
Total
  
$
74,161
    
 
  
   
       

The final allocation of the purchase price of the 3dfx assets is contingent upon the amount of additional consideration, if any, paid to 3dfx upon the final satisfaction of their liabilities.

Note 7 –Goodwill and Intangible Assets

We are currently amortizing our intangible assets with definitive lives over periods ranging from 1 to 5 years. The components of our amortizable intangible assets are as follows:
 
 
  7  
 
 
NVIDIA CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS – (Continued)
(Unaudited)

 
  
April 25, 2004
January 25, 2004
   
 
  
Gross Carrying Amount
Accumulated Amortization
Net Carrying Amount
Gross Carrying Amount
Accumulated
Amortization
Net Carrying Amount
   
 
  
(In thousands)
 
    
 
    
 
    
 
    
 
    
 
    
 
  
Technology licenses
  
$
15,178
  
$
(7,979
)
$
7,199
  
$
15,178
  
$
(7,161
)
$
8,017
  
Patents
    
23,265
    
(10,584
)
  
12,681
    
19,319
    
(8,992
)
  
10,327
  
Acquired intellectual property
    
27,086
    
(12,596
)
  
14,490
    
27,067
    
(10,590
)
  
16,477
  
Trademarks
    
11,310
    
(6,868
)
  
4,442
    
11,310
    
(6,283
)
  
5,027
  
Other
    
1,496
    
(151
)
  
1,345
    
250
    
(135
)
  
115
  
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
Total intangible assets
  
$
78,335
  
$
(38,178
)
$
40,157
  
$
73,124
  
$
(33,161
)
$
39,963
  
   
 
 
 
 
 
 

Amortization expense associated with intangible assets for the three months ended April 25, 2004 and April 27, 2003 was $5.0 million and $2.7 million, respectively. Amortization expense for the net carrying amount of intangible assets at April 25, 2004 is estimated to be $14.0 million for the remainder of fiscal 2005, $15.8 million in fiscal 2006, $8.2 million in fiscal 2007, $2.0 million in fiscal 2008 and $0.1 million in fiscal 2009.

The carrying amount of goodwill is as follows:

 
  
April 25, 2004
January 25, 2004
   
 
  
(In thousands)
 
    
 
    
 
  
3dfx
  
$
50,326
  
$
50,326
  
MediaQ
    
53,586
    
53,695
  
Other
    
4,868
    
4,888
  
   
 
 
Total goodwill
  
$
108,780
  
$
108,909
  
   
 
 
 
Note 8 - Marketable Securities
 
  We account for our investment instruments in accordance with Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 115, or SFAS No. 115, Accounting for Certain Investments in Debt and Equity Securities. All of our cash equivalents and marketable securities are treated as “available-for-sale” under SFAS No. 115. Cash equivalents consist of financial instruments which are readily convertible into cash and have original maturities of three months or less at the time of acquisition. Marketable securities consist of highly liquid investments with a maturity of greater than three months when purchased. We classify our marketable debt securities at the date of acquisition in the available-for-sale category as our intention is to convert them into cash for operations. These securities are reported at fair value with the related unrealized gains and losses included in accumulated other comprehensive income, a component of stockholders’ equity, net of tax. Realized gains and losses on the sale of marketable securities are determined using the specific-identification method. Net realized gains for the three months ended April 25, 2004 and April 27, 2003 were $69,000 and $195,000, respectively.

Note 9 - Balance Sheet Components
 
Certain balance sheet components are as follows:

 
  
April 25,
January 25,
Inventories:
  
2004
2004
   
 
  
(In thousands)
 
  
 
Raw materials
  
$
33,236
  
$
22,131
  
Work in-process
    
64,988
    
44,523
  
Finished goods
    
136,572
    
167,584
  
   
 
 
Total inventories
  
$
234,796
  
$
234,238
  
   
 
 
 
 
  8  
 
 
NVIDIA CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS – (Continued)
(Unaudited)

At April 25, 2004, we had outstanding inventory purchase obligations totaling $389.7 million.

 
  
April 25,
January 25,
Property and Equipment:
  
2004
2004
   
 
  
(In thousands)
 
  
 
Software
  
$
118,519
  
$
116,150
  
Test equipment
    
74,755
    
73,287
  
Computer equipment
    
73,081
    
70,173
  
Leasehold improvements
    
59,152
    
58,649
  
Construction in process
    
7,482
    
1,620
  
Office furniture and equipment
    
18,072
    
17,996
  
   
 
 
 
    
351,061
    
337,875
  
Accumulated depreciation and amortization
    
(166,020
)
  
(147,846
)
   
 
 
Property and equipment, net
  
$
185,041
  
$
190,029
  
   
 
 

 
  
April 25,
January 25,
Accrued Liabilities:
  
2004
2004
   
 
  
(In thousands)
 
  
 
Accrued customer programs
  
$
48,110
  
$
54,875
  
Customer advances
    
12,392
    
11,530
  
Taxes payable
    
34,948
    
29,609
  
Accrued payroll and related expenses
    
26,860
    
30,270
  
Deferred rent
    
8,960
    
8,151
  
Other
    
9,620
    
10,320
  
   
 
 
Total accrued liabilities
  
$
140,890
  
$
144,755
  
   
 
 
 
Note 10 - Segment Information
 
We design, develop and market graphics processing units, or GPUs, media and communications processors, or MCPs, ultra-low power media processors, or UMPs, and related software. We operate in one industry segment in the United States and other Americas, Asia and Europe. Our chief operating decision maker, the Chief Executive Officer, reviews financial information presented on a consolidated basis for purposes of making operating decisions and assessing financial performance. Revenue by geographic region is allocated to individual countries based on the location to which the products are initially billed even if our customers’ revenue is attributable to end customers that are located in a different location. The following table summarizes information pertaining to our operations in different geographic regions:

 
  
Three Months Ended
 
  
April 25,
April 27,
 
  
2004
2003
   
Revenue:
  
(In thousands)
 
    
 
    
 
  
United States and other Americas
  
$
60,932
  
$
77,279
  
Asia Pacific
    
385,042
    
307,801
  
Europe
    
25,931
    
19,903
  
   
 
 
Total revenue
  
$
471,905
  
$
404,983
  
   
 
 

 
  9  
 
 
NVIDIA CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS – (Continued)
(Unaudited)

Revenue from significant customers, those representing approximately 10% or more of total revenue for the respective periods is summarized as follows:

 
Three Months Ended
 
April 25,
April 27,
 
2004
2003
Revenue:
 
 
 
 
 
Customer A
31%
22%
Customer B
18%
11%
Customer C
7%
13%
Customer D
3%
12%

Note 11 – Litigation

On December 15, 2000, NVIDIA Corporation and one of our indirect subsidiaries entered into an agreement to purchase certain graphics chip assets from 3dfx. The 3dfx asset purchase closed on April 18, 2001. In May 2002, we were served with a complaint filed by the landlord of 3dfx’s San Jose, California commercial real estate lease. In October 2002, 3dfx filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California. In December 2002, we were served with a complaint filed by the landlord of 3dfx’s Austin, Texas commercial real estate lease. The landlords’ complaints both assert claims for, among other things, interference with contract, successor liability and fraudulent transfer. The landlords’ are seeking to recover, among other things, amounts owed on their leases in the aggregate amount of approximately $10 million. In March 2003, we were served with a complaint filed by the Trustee appointed by the Bankruptcy Court to represent the interests of the 3dfx bankruptcy estate. The Trustee’s complaint asserts claims for, among other things, successor liability and fraudulent transfer. The Trustee’s complaint seeks additional payments from us, the amount of which has not been quantified. The landlords’ actions have been removed to the Bankruptcy Court from the Superior Court of California and consolidated with the Trustee’s action for purposes of discovery. Discovery is currently proceeding and no trial date has been set. We believe the claims asserted against us are without merit and we will continue to defend ourselves vigorously.

We are subject to other legal proceedings, but we do not believe that the ultimate outcome of any of these proceedings will have a material adverse effect on our financial position or overall trends in results of operations. However, if an unfavorable ruling were to occur in any specific period, there exists the possibility of a material adverse impact on the results of operations of that period.

ITEM 2. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
 
The following discussion contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, which are subject to the "safe harbor" created by those sections. These forward-looking statements include but are not limited to: statements related to industry trends and future growth in the markets for digital media processors; our product development efforts; the timing of our introduction of new products; industry and consumer acceptance of our products; and future profitability. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to publicly release any revisions to the forward-looking statements or reflect events or circumstances after the date of this document. The "Business Risks" section, among other things, should be considered in evaluating our prospects and future financial performance.
 
Overview
 
Our Company
 
NVIDIA Corporation is a market leader in digital media processor technology, dedicated to creating products that enhance the interactive experience on consumer and professional computing platforms. We design, develop and market graphics processing units, or GPUs, media and communications processors, or MCPs, ultra-low power media processors, or UMPs, and related software. Our products are integral to a wide variety of visual computing platforms, including enterprise personal computers, or PCs, consumer PCs, professional workstations, notebook PCs, personal digital assistants, cellular phones, game consoles and digital media centers. We were incorporated in California in April 1993 and reincorporated in Delaware in April 1998. Our mission is to be the most important visual computing company in the world.
 
 
  10  
 
 
Recent Developments
 
GeForce PCX Series
 
In February 2004, we announced the PC graphics industry’s first top-to-bottom family of PCI Express GPUs. By using a PCI Express high-speed interconnect, or HSI, which is a complex piece of networking technology that performs high-speed bi-directional interconnect protocol conversion, we were able to transform our GeForce family of GPUs into PCI Express compatible GPUs.
 
GeForce 6 Series
 
On April 13, 2004, we announced our latest flagship GPU architecture, the GeForce 6 series. The GeForce 6 series will offer a number of new features, including a faster architecture than our GeForce FX series, compliance with many of the latest software standards and on-chip video processors for high-definition encoding and decoding and direct-to-television playback. We expect that the GeForce 6 series will offer more flexibility for game designers and graphic artists, while increasing performance over our previous top-end product, the GeForce FX 5950. We expect that add-in cards using these new GPUs will be available at retail stores within the second quarter of fiscal 2005.
 
nForce3
 
During the first quarter of fiscal 2005, we launched production of the nForce3 250Gb, the first single-chip MCP to offer gigabit Ethernet, dual independent Serial Advanced Technology Attachment, or SATA, controllers, industry leading Redundant Array of Independent Disks, or RAID, features and hardware security processing.
 
Future Objectives and Challenges
 
Peripheral Component Interconnect Express, or PCI-Express
 
PCI Express is expected to enable a new level of performance for high bandwidth applications like graphics and networking. The transition to PCI Express, which is extremely complex, is central to our GPU and MCP objectives this year. We initiated this transition by creating our GeForce PCX series of GPUs, using HSI technology. During fiscal 2005, we expect to launch and be in full production with a top-to-bottom product line of next generation PCI Express GPUs based on our new GeForce 6 architecture.
 
Gross Margin Improvement
 
We continue to remain intensely focused on driving down cost and improving gross margins. During the first quarter of fiscal 2005, our gross margin was 31.5%, an improvement of 2.2% from our gross margin of 29.3% for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2004. We expect that the GeForce 6 series will have better gross margins than the GeForce FX family. We expect gross margin to improve by 1.0% to 1.5% during the second quarter of fiscal 2005 as initial sales of the GeForce 6 product family are expected to have a slightly positive impact.
 
Handsets
 
Our handheld objective is to drive the multimedia handheld era by building exciting products that leverage NVIDIA’s expertise, resources, and investments in digital media processing. During the first quarter of fiscal 2005, Motorola announced their decision to incorporate our GoForce 4000 for their upcoming new line of 3G multimedia phones. Over the next several years, digital media processing technologies are expected to play a critical role in the cell phone industry. With the UMPs on our roadmap, future cell phones will be able to receive television programs, record digital video like a camcorder, enable video phone calls, and be your portable game player.
 
 
  11  
 
 
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
 
Management’s discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations are based upon our unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States. The preparation of these financial statements requires us to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses, and related disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities. On an on-going basis, we evaluate our estimates, including those related to revenue recognition, accounts receivable, inventories, long-lived assets, goodwill, income taxes and contingencies. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities.
 
We believe the following critical accounting policies affect our significant judgments and estimates used in the preparation of our condensed consolidated financial statements. Our management has discussed the development and selection of these critical accounting policies and estimates with the audit committee of our board of directors and the audit committee has reviewed our disclosures relating to them in this report.
 
Revenue Recognition
 
We recognize revenue from product sales when persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists, the product has been delivered, the price is fixed and determinable and collection is reasonably assured. For all sales, we use a binding purchase order and in certain cases we use a contractual agreement as evidence of an arrangement. We consider delivery to occur upon shipment provided title and risk of loss have passed to the customer. At the point of sale, we assess whether the arrangement fee is fixed and determinable and whether collection is reasonably assured. If we determine that collection of a fee is not reasonably assured, we defer the fee and recognize revenue at the time collection becomes reasonably assured, which is generally upon receipt of cash.
 
Our policy on sales to distributors and stocking representatives is to defer recognition of revenue and related cost of revenue until the distributors and representatives resell the product.
 
We record estimated reductions to revenue for customer programs at the time revenue is recognized. Our customer programs primarily involve rebates, which are designed to serve as sales incentives to resellers of our products in various target markets. We account for rebates in accordance with Emerging Issues Task Force Issue 01-9, or EITF 01-9, Accounting for Consideration Given by a Vendor to a Customer (Including a Reseller of the Vendor’s Products) and, as such, we accrue for 100% of the potential rebates and do not apply a breakage factor. Unclaimed rebates, which historically have not been significant, are reversed to revenue upon expiration of the rebate. Rebates typically expire six months from the date of the original sale.
 
Our customer programs also include marketing development funds, or MDFs. We account for MDFs as either a reduction of revenue or an operating expense in accordance with EITF 01-9. MDFs represent monies paid to retailers, system builders, OEMs, distributors and add-in card partners that are earmarked for market segment development and expansion and typically are designed to support our partners’ activities while also promoting NVIDIA products.
 
If market conditions decline, we may take actions to increase amounts offered under customer programs, possibly resulting in an incremental reduction of revenue at the time such programs are offered.
 
We also record a reduction to revenue by establishing a sales return allowance for estimated product returns at the time revenue is recognized, based primarily on historical return rates. However, if product returns for a particular fiscal period exceed historical return rates we may determine that additional sales return allowances are required to properly reflect our estimated exposure for product returns.
 
Accounts Receivable
 
We maintain an allowance for doubtful accounts receivable for estimated losses resulting from the inability of our customers to make required payments. Management determines this allowance, which consists of an amount identified for specific customer issues as well as an amount based on general estimated exposure. Our overall estimated exposure excludes amounts covered by credit insurance and letters of credit. If the financial condition of our customers or insurance carrier were to deteriorate, resulting in an impairment of their ability to make payments, additional allowances may be required that could adversely affect our operating results. Furthermore, there can be no assurance that we will be able to obtain credit insurance in the future. Our current credit insurance agreement expires on December 31, 2004.
 
 
  12  
 
 
Inventories
 
We write down our inventory for estimated lower of cost or market, obsolescence or unmarketable inventory equal to the difference between the cost of inventory and the estimated market value based upon assumptions about future demand and market conditions. If actual market conditions are less favorable than those projected by management, additional inventory write-downs may be required that could adversely affect our operating results. If actual market conditions are more favorable, we may have higher gross margins when products are sold. Sales to date of such products have not had a significant impact on our gross margin.
 
Valuation of Long-lived Assets
 
We review long-lived assets, such as property and equipment, and intangible assets subject to amortization, whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of such assets may not be recoverable. We utilize a two-step approach to testing long-lived assets for impairment. The first step tests for possible impairment indicators. If an impairment indicator is present, the second step measures whether the asset is recoverable based on a comparison of the carrying amount of the asset to the estimated undiscounted future cash flows expected to be generated by the asset. If the carrying amount of an asset exceeds its estimated future cash flows, an impairment charge is recognized by the amount by which the carrying amount of the asset exceeds the fair value of the asset. Our review requires the use of judgment and estimates. No such impairment charges have occurred to date. However, future events or circumstances may result in a charge to earnings if we determine that the carrying value of a long-lived asset is not recoverable.
 
Goodwill
 
We utilize a two-step approach to testing goodwill for impairment. The first step tests for possible impairment by applying a fair value-based test. The second step (if necessary) measures the amount of such an impairment by applying fair value-based tests to individual assets and liabilities. We elected to perform our annual goodwill impairment review during the fourth quarter of each fiscal year. We completed our annual impairment test during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2004 and concluded that there was no impairment. However, future events or circumstances may result in a charge to earnings due to the potential for a write down of goodwill in connection with such tests.
 
Income Taxes
 
Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 109, or SFAS No. 109, Accounting for Income Taxes, establishes financial accounting and reporting standards for the effect of income taxes. In accordance with SFAS No. 109, we recognize federal, state and foreign current tax liabilities or assets based on our estimate of taxes payable or refundable in the current fiscal year by tax jurisdiction. We also recognize federal, state and foreign deferred tax assets or liabilities for our estimate of future tax effects attributable to temporary differences and carryforwards; and we record a valuation allowance to reduce any deferred tax assets by the amount of any tax benefits that, based on available evidence and judgment, are not expected to be realized.
 
Our calculation of current and deferred tax assets and liabilities is based on certain estimates and judgments and involves dealing with uncertainties in the application of complex tax laws. Our estimates of current and deferred tax assets and liabilities may change based, in part, on added certainty or finality to an anticipated outcome, changes in accounting or tax laws in the United States, or U.S., or foreign jurisdictions where we operate, or changes in other facts or circumstances. In addition, we recognize liabilities for potential U.S. and foreign income tax contingencies based on our estimate of whether, and the extent to which, additional taxes may be due. If we determine that payment of these amounts is unnecessary or if the recorded tax liability is less than our current assessment, we may be required to recognize an income tax benefit or additional income tax expense in our financial statements, accordingly.
 
Contingencies
 
We are subject to the possibility of various loss contingencies arising in the ordinary course of business. We consider the likelihood of loss or impairment of an asset or the incurrence of a liability, as well as our ability to reasonably estimate the amount of loss in determining loss contingencies. An estimated loss contingency is accrued when it is probable that an asset has been impaired or a liability has been incurred and the amount of loss can be reasonably estimated. We regularly evaluate current information available to us to determine whether such accruals should be adjusted and whether new accruals are required.

 
  13  
 
 
Results of Operations

The following table sets forth, for the periods indicated, certain items in our condensed consolidated statements of operations expressed as a percentage of revenue.

 
Three Months Ended
 
April 25,
April 27,
 
2004
2003
 
 
 
 
 
 
Revenue
100.0%
100.0%
Cost of revenue
68.5
68.7
Gross profit
31.5
31.3
Operating expenses:
 
 
Research and development
16.5
14.6
Sales, general and administrative
10.0
10.1
Total operating expenses
26.5
24.7
Operating income
5.0
6.6
Interest and other income, net
0.6
0.4
Income before income tax expense
5.6
7.0
Income tax expense
1.1
2.1
Net income
4.5%
4.9%

Three Months Ended April 25, 2004 and April 27, 2003
 
Revenue
 
Revenue was $471.9 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2005 and $405.0 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2004, which represented an increase of 17%. This revenue increase was primarily due to increased sales of our GeForce family of desktop GPUs and our Quadro branded family of workstation products. Sales of our GeForce family of desktop GPUs improved primarily as a result of increased sales unit volumes across the enthusiast, performance and mainstream consumer segments that are served by this product family. Sales of our Quadro workstation products continued to improve, resulting primarily from significant unit sales volume increases. Offsetting these revenue increases were slight decreases in sales of our MCP and Xbox products. MCP sales decreased primarily as a result of lower average selling prices. Sales of our Xbox products have historically fluctuated based on the timing of orders from Microsoft Corporation. We expect Xbox product sales to increase in the second and third quarters of fiscal 2005 when compared to the first quarter of fiscal 2005 as a result of expected seasonal increases in shipments to Microsoft.
 
Revenue from sales to customers outside of the United States and other Americas accounted for 87% and 81% of total revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 2005 and fiscal 2004, respectively. Revenue by geographic region is allocated to individual countries based on the location to which the products are initially billed even if the foreign CEMs’ and add-in board and motherboard manufacturers’ revenue is attributable to end customers in a different location. The increase in the percentage of revenue from sales to customers outside of the United States and other Americas is primarily due to decreased sales of our Xbox products, which are billed to Microsoft in the United States.
 
Sales to Microsoft accounted for approximately 5% and sales to our two largest customers accounted for approximately 49% of revenues for the first quarter of fiscal 2005. Sales to Microsoft accounted for approximately 9% and sales to our two largest customers accounted for approximately 35% of revenues for the first quarter of fiscal 2004.
 
In future periods, our revenue may be affected by demand for and market acceptance of our products and/or our customers’ products, our ability to successfully develop and produce our products in volume production, competitive pressures resulting in lower than expected average selling prices, and new product announcements or product introductions by our competitors.
 
 
  14  
 
 
Gross Profit
 
Gross profit consists of total revenue, net of allowances, less cost of revenue. Cost of revenue consists primarily of the cost of semiconductors purchased from subcontractors (including wafer fabrication, assembly, testing and packaging), manufacturing support costs (including labor and overhead associated with such purchases), final test yield fallout, inventory provisions and shipping costs. Gross margin is the ratio of gross profit to revenue. Our gross margin can vary in any period depending on the mix of types of products sold.
 
Our gross margin was 31.5% and 31.3% for the first quarter of fiscal 2005 and the first quarter of fiscal 2004, respectively. Gross margin, which had dropped to 28.3%, 27.6% and 29.3% for the second, third and fourth quarters of fiscal 2004, respectively, returned to a comparable level in the first quarter of fiscal 2005 to that of the first quarter of fiscal 2004 as a result of two primary factors. First, during fiscal 2004 our GeForce FX series of GPU products had experienced lower gross margins than previous series of GeForce GPU products, such as the GeForce 4 series. Company-wide efforts were made to drive down cost and improve gross margins and, as a result, during the first quarter of fiscal 2005, we were able to improve our gross margins, particularly on sales of mainstream GeForce FX desktop GPU products. In addition, in the first quarter of fiscal 2005, we realized increased sales of our high-end GeForce FX desktop GPU products, which are targeted toward the performance market segment and are among our highest gross margin products.
 
In the future, we could be subject to excess or obsolete inventories and be required to take additional write-downs if growth slows or if we incorrectly forecast product demand. A reduction in demand and market acceptance of our products and/or our customers’ products could also negatively impact our gross margins. We do not expect past results to be indicative of future periods. We remain intensely focused on driving down cost and improving gross margins. We expect margins to continue to improve throughout the year as the Geforce 6 series becomes an increasing portion of our business.

Operating Expenses

Research and Development.    Research and development expenses consist of salaries and benefits, cost of development tools and software, cost of new product development, consultant costs and other expenses such as facilities and equipment costs. Research and development expenses increased by $18.4 million, or 31%, from the first quarter of fiscal 2004 to the first quarter of fiscal 2005 primarily due to a $10.2 million increase related to additional personnel, including approximately 60 employees that joined us as a result of our acquisition of MediaQ during the third quarter of fiscal 2004, a $7.1 million increase associated with lab equipment, software licenses, maintenance fees, increased depreciation charges primarily related to purchases of new research and development emulation equipment during fiscal 2004, increased intangible asset amortization charges and a $1.1 million increase in facility expenses, new product development costs and other expenses during the period.

We anticipate that we will continue to devote substantial resources to research and development, and we expect these expenses to increase in absolute dollars in the foreseeable future due to the increased complexity and the greater number of products under development. Research and development expenses are likely to fluctuate from time to time to the extent we make periodic incremental investments in research and development and these investments may be independent of our level of revenues.

Sales, General and Administrative.    Sales, general and administrative expenses consist primarily of salaries, commissions and bonuses, promotional tradeshow and advertising expenses, marketing development expenses, travel and entertainment expenses, legal and accounting expenses and other expenses such as facilities and equipment costs. Sales, general and administrative expenses increased $6.3 million, or 15%, from the first quarter of fiscal 2004 to the first quarter of fiscal 2005 primarily due to a $3.9 million increase related to additional personnel, a $5.2 million increase in advertising, marketing development and travel and entertainment expenses and a $300,000 increase in other general administrative activities. These increases were offset by a $3.1 million decrease in legal expenses related to resolution of the Microsoft arbitration and shareholder lawsuits and general administrative activities.

We expect sales, general and administrative expenses to continue to increase in absolute dollars as we continue to support our operations, expand our sales, launch our new products and protect our business interests.

 
  15  
 
 
Interest Income and Interest Expense

Interest income consists of interest earned on cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities. Interest income decreased from $5.6 million to $2.9 million from the first quarter of fiscal 2004 to the first quarter of fiscal 2005. This decrease was primarily due to lower average cash balances due to the redemption of our convertible subordinated debentures during the third quarter of fiscal 2004.

Interest expense primarily consists of interest incurred as a result of capital lease obligations and, prior to the redemption in the third quarter of fiscal 2004, interest on our convertible subordinated debentures. Interest expense decreased from $4.0 million to $76,000 from the first quarter of fiscal 2004 to the first quarter of fiscal 2005 primarily due to the redemption of our convertible subordinated debentures.

Income Taxes

We recognized income tax expense of $5.3 million and $8.5 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2005 and fiscal 2004, respectively. Income taxes as a percentage of income before income tax expense was 20% and 30% for the first quarter of fiscal 2005 and fiscal 2004, respectively. Our effective tax rate is lower than the U.S. Federal Statutory rate of 35% due primarily to income earned in lower tax jurisdictions and research and development tax credits. Our effective tax rate has declined due primarily to changes in the geographic mix of income.
 
Liquidity and Capital Resources

As of April 25, 2004, we had $657.3 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, an increase of $53.3 million from the end of fiscal 2004. Our portfolio of cash equivalents and marketable securities is managed by several financial institutions. Our investment policy requires the purchase of top-tier investment grade securities, the diversification of asset type and certain limits on our portfolio duration.
 
Operating activities generated cash of $61.5 million and $40.4 million during the first quarter of fiscal 2005 and fiscal 2004, respectively. The $21.1 million increase in cash flows from operating activities was primarily due to a $29.3 million increase in accounts payable related to the timing of payments made to our suppliers.
 
Cash used in investing activities has consisted primarily of investments in marketable securities, the purchase of certain assets from various businesses and purchases of property and equipment, which include leasehold improvements for our facilities, and intangible assets. Investing activities used cash of $92.8 million and $115.1 million during the first quarter of fiscal 2005 and 2004, respectively. Net cash used by investing activities during the first quarter of fiscal 2005 was primarily due to $74.3 million of net purchases of marketable securities. In addition, we used $18.6 million for capital expenditures primarily attributable to purchases of leasehold improvements for our new data center at our headquarters campus, new research and development emulation equipment, technology licenses, software and intangible assets. We expect to spend approximately $60.0 million to $80.0 million for capital expenditures during the remainder of fiscal 2005, primarily for purchases of leasehold improvements for our new data center at our headquarters campus, software licenses, emulation equipment, computer and engineering workstations. In addition, we may continue to use cash in connection with the acquisition of new businesses or assets.
 
Financing activities provided cash of $13.7 million during the first quarter of fiscal 2005 compared to cash provided of $6.4 million during the first quarter of fiscal 2004. The increase in cash provided was primarily due to the increase in employee stock option exercises.
 
Operating Capital and Capital Expenditure Requirements
 
We believe that our existing cash balances and anticipated cash flows from operations will be sufficient to meet our operating, acquisition and capital requirements for at least the next 12 months. However, there is no assurance that we will not need to raise additional equity or debt financing within this time frame. Additional financing may not be available on favorable terms or at all and may be dilutive to our then-current stockholders. We also may require additional capital for other purposes not presently contemplated. If we are unable to obtain sufficient capital, we could be required to curtail capital equipment purchases or research and development expenditures, which could harm our business. Factors that could affect our cash used or generated from operations and, as a result, our need to seek additional borrowings or capital include:
 
  16  
 
 
For additional factors see "Business Risks – Our operating results are unpredictable and may fluctuate, and if our operating results are below the expectations of securities analysts or investors, our stock price could decline."
 
Other key factors that could affect our liquidity include:
 
Shelf Registration Statement
 
In December 2003, we filed a Form S-3 with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, under their "shelf" registration process. This shelf registration was declared effective by the SEC on March 25, 2004. Under this shelf registration process, we may sell common stock, preferred stock, debt securities, warrants, stock purchase contracts and/or stock purchase units in one or more offerings up to a total dollar amount of $500.0 million. Unless otherwise indicated in the applicable prospectus supplement, we intend to use the proceeds for working capital and general corporate purposes. In particular, we expect to incur significant operating expenses in connection with:
3dfx Asset Purchase
 
The 3dfx asset purchase closed on April 18, 2001. Under the terms of the Asset Purchase Agreement, the cash consideration due at the closing was $70.0 million, less $15.0 million that was loaned to 3dfx pursuant to a Credit Agreement dated December 15, 2000. The Asset Purchase Agreement also provided, subject to the other provisions thereof, that if 3dfx properly certified that all its debts and other liabilities had been provided for, then we would have been obligated to pay 3dfx two million shares of NVIDIA common stock. If 3dfx could not make such a certification, but instead properly certified that its debts and liabilities could be satisfied for less than $25.0 million, then 3dfx could have elected to receive a cash payment equal to the amount of such debts and liabilities and a reduced number of shares of our common stock, with such reduction calculated by dividing the cash payment by $25.00 per share. If 3dfx could not certify that all of its debts and liabilities had been provided for, or could not be satisfied, for less than $25.0 million, we would not be obligated under the agreement to pay any additional consideration for the assets. We are currently party to litigation relating to certain aspects of the asset purchase and 3dfx’s subsequent bankruptcy in October 2002. Please see Part II, Item 1, “Legal Proceedings” for further information regarding this litigation.
 
Contractual Cash Obligations

As of April 25, 2004, our outstanding inventory purchase obligations have increased to $389.7 million from $213.3 million as of January 25, 2004 primarily due to purchase orders for our new GeForce 6 series of GPUs. There were no other material changes in our contractual cash obligations from those disclosed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended January 25, 2004. Please see Item 7, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations – Liquidity and Capital Resources” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended January 25, 2004.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Information regarding recent accounting pronouncements is set forth in Note 2 of the Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements, which information is hereby incorporated by reference.

 
  17  
 
 
ITEM 3.     QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
 
Interest Rate Risk
 
We invest in a variety of financial instruments, consisting principally of investments in commercial paper, money market funds and highly liquid debt securities of corporations, municipalities and the U.S. Government and its agencies. These investments are denominated in U.S. dollars.
 
We account for our investment instruments in accordance with Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 115, or SFAS No. 115, Accounting for Certain Investments in Debt and Equity Securities. All of the cash equivalents and marketable securities are treated as "available-for-sale" under SFAS No. 115. Investments in both fixed rate and floating rate interest earning instruments carry a degree of interest rate risk. Fixed rate securities may have their market value adversely impacted due to a rise in interest rates, while floating rate securities may produce less income than expected if interest rates fall. Due in part to these factors, our future investment income may fall short of expectations due to changes in interest rates or we may suffer losses in principal if forced to sell securities that decline in market value due to changes in interest rates. However, because our debt securities are classified as "available-for-sale", no gains or losses are recognized due to changes in interest rates unless such securities are sold prior to maturity. These securities are reported at fair value with the related unrealized gains and losses included in accumulated other comprehensive income, a component of stockholders’ equity, net of tax.
 
Exchange Rate Risk
 
We consider our direct exposure to foreign exchange rate fluctuations to be minimal. Currently, sales and arrangements with third-party manufacturers provide for pricing and payment in U.S. dollars, and therefore are not subject to exchange rate fluctuations. To date, we have not engaged in any currency hedging activities, although we may do so in the future. Fluctuations in currency exchange rates could harm our business in the future.
 
Business Risks
 
In addition to the risks discussed in "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations," our business is subject to the risks set forth below.
 
Risks Related to Our Operations
 
Failure to achieve expected manufacturing yields for existing and/or new products would reduce our gross margins.
 
Semiconductor manufacturing yields are a function both of product design, which is developed largely by us, and process technology, which typically is proprietary to the manufacturer. Since low yields may result from either design or process technology failures, yield problems may not be effectively determined or resolved until an actual product exists that can be analyzed and tested to identify process sensitivities relating to the design rules that are used. As a result, yield problems may not be identified until well into the production process, and resolution of yield problems would require cooperation by and communication between us and the manufacturer.

Because of our potentially limited access to wafer fabrication capacity from our manufacturers, any decrease in manufacturing yields could result in an increase in our per unit costs and force us to allocate our available product supply among our customers. This could potentially harm customer relationships, as well as revenue and gross profit. Our wafer manufacturers may be unable to achieve or maintain acceptable manufacturing yields in the future. Our inability to achieve planned yields from our wafer manufacturers could harm our business. We also face the risk of product recalls or product returns resulting from design or manufacturing defects that are not discovered during the manufacturing and testing process. In the event of a significant number of product returns due to a defect or recall, our business could suffer.

To stay competitive, we may have to invest more resources in research and development.

If new competitors, technological advances by existing competitors or other competitive factors require us to invest significantly greater resources than anticipated in research and development efforts, our business could suffer. We have substantially increased our engineering and technical resources and have 1,109 full-time employees engaged in research and development as of April 25, 2004, compared to 880 employees as of April 27, 2003. During the first quarter of fiscal 2005 and fiscal 2004, research and development expenditures represented 17% and 15% as a percentage of revenue, respectively.

 
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Our operating expenses are relatively fixed and we may have limited ability to reduce expenses quickly in response to any revenue shortfalls.

During the first quarter of fiscal 2005 and fiscal 2004, our operating expenses, which are comprised of research and development expenses and sales, general and administrative expenses, represented 27% and 25% as a percentage of our total revenue, respectively. We anticipate that we will continue to devote substantial resources to research and development, and we expect these expenses to increase in absolute dollars in the foreseeable future due to the increased complexity and the greater number of products under development. Research and development expenses are likely to fluctuate from time to time to the extent we make periodic incremental investments in research and development and these investments may be independent of our level of revenues. We expect sales, general and administrative expenses to continue to increase in absolute dollars as we continue to support our operations, expand our sales, launch our new products and protect our business interests. If we are unable to reduce operating expenses quickly in response to any revenue shortfalls it would negatively impact our financial results.

We order materials in advance of anticipated customer demand. Therefore, we have limited ability to reduce our inventory purchase commitments quickly in response to any revenue shortfalls.

Substantially all of our sales are made on the basis of purchase orders rather than long-term agreements. As a result, we may commit resources to the production of products without having received advance purchase commitments from customers. Any inability to sell products to which we have devoted significant resources could harm our business. In addition, cancellation or deferral of product orders could result in our holding excess inventory, which could adversely affect our profit margins and restrict our ability to fund operations. We may build inventories during periods of anticipated growth and in connection with selling workstation boards directly to major original equipment manufacturers, or OEMs. We could be subject to excess or obsolete inventories and be required to take corresponding inventory write-downs if growth slows or if we incorrectly forecast product demand. A reduction in demand could negatively impact our gross margins and financial results.

Failure to transition to new manufacturing process technologies could affect our ability to compete effectively.

Our strategy is to utilize the most advanced process technology appropriate for our products and available from commercial third-party foundries. Use of advanced processes may have greater risk of initial yield problems and higher product cost. Manufacturing process technologies are subject to rapid change and require significant expenditures for research and development. We continuously evaluate the benefits of migrating to smaller geometry process technologies in order to improve performance and reduce costs. We currently use 0.15-micron, 0.14 micron and 0.13 micron process technologies for our family of GPUs, MCPs and UMPs. The majority of our newest GPUs, the GeForce 6 series, GeForce FX and the GeForce FX Go products are manufactured in 0.13-micron process technology.
 
We believe that the transition of our products to increasingly smaller geometries will be important to our competitive position. On February 24, 2004, we announced that we will be one of the first semiconductor companies to manufacture select up-coming GPUs on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company's, or TSMC, 0.11 um (micron) process technology.
 
We have experienced difficulty in migrating to new manufacturing processes in the past and, consequently, have suffered reduced yields, delays in product deliveries and increased expense levels. Moreover, we are dependent on our relationships with our third-party manufacturers to migrate to smaller geometry processes successfully. We may continue to have difficulty migrating to new manufacturing process technologies successfully or on a timely basis. Our inability to transition to new manufacturing process technologies may adversely affect our operating results and harm our gross margins.
 
We are dependent on key personnel and the loss of these employees could harm our business.
 
Our performance is substantially dependent on the performance of our executive officers and key employees. None of our officers or employees is bound by an employment agreement, and so our relationships with our officers and employees are at will. We do not have "key person" life insurance policies on any of our employees. The loss of the services of any of our executive officers, technical personnel or other key employees, particularly Jen-Hsun Huang, our President and Chief Executive Officer, would harm our business. Our success will depend on our ability to identify, hire, train and retain highly qualified technical and managerial personnel. Our failure to attract and retain the necessary technical and managerial personnel would harm our business.
 
 
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Our failure to estimate customer demand properly may result in excess or obsolete inventory that could adversely affect our gross margins.
 
Inventory purchases are based upon future demand forecasts. If there were to be a sudden and significant decrease in demand for our products, or if there were a higher incidence of inventory obsolescence because of rapidly changing technology and customer requirements, we could be required to write-down our inventory and our gross margins could be adversely affected.
 
Our operating results are unpredictable and may fluctuate, and if our operating results are below the expectations of securities analysts or investors our stock price could decline.
 
Many of our revenue components fluctuate and are difficult to predict, and our operating expenses are largely independent of revenue in any particular period. It is therefore difficult for us to accurately forecast revenue and profits or losses. As a result, it is possible that in some quarters our operating results could be below the expectations of securities analysts or investors, which could cause the trading price of our common stock to decline, perhaps substantially. We believe that our quarterly and annual results of operations may be affected by a variety of factors that could harm our revenue, gross profit and results of operations.
 
Factors that have affected our results of operations in the past, and could affect our results of operations in the future, include the following:
 
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Any one or more of the factors discussed above could prevent us from achieving our expected future revenue or net income. Accordingly, we believe that period-to-period comparisons of our results of operations should not be relied upon as an indication of future performance. In addition, the results of any quarterly period are not indicative of results to be expected for a full fiscal year.
 
Risks Related to Our Products
 
We need to develop new products and to manage product transitions in order to succeed.
 
Our business depends to a significant extent on our ability to successfully develop new products for our target segments. Our add-in board and motherboard manufacturers, original design manufacturers, or ODMs, and major OEM customers typically introduce new system configurations as often as twice per year, typically based on spring and fall design cycles. Accordingly, our existing products must have competitive performance levels or we must timely introduce new products with such performance characteristics in order to be included in new system configurations. This requires that we do the following:
As a result, we believe that significant expenditures for research and development will continue to be required in the future. The success of new product introductions will depend on several factors, including the following:
A critical component of our product development effort is our partnerships with leaders in the computer aided design, or CAD, industry. We have invested significant resources to develop relationships with industry leaders, including Cadence Design Systems, Inc., IKOS Systems, Inc. and Synopsys, Inc., often assisting these companies in the product definition of their new products. We believe that forming these relationships and utilizing next-generation development tools to design, simulate and verify our products will help us remain at the forefront of the 3D graphics, communications and networking markets and develop products that utilize leading-edge technology on a rapid basis. We believe this approach assists us in meeting the new design schedules of PC OEMs and cellphone manufacturers. If these relationships are not successful, we may not be able to develop new products in a timely manner.
 
 
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In addition, our strategy includes utilizing the most advanced semiconductor process technology appropriate for our products and available from commercial third-party foundries. Use of advanced processes has in the past resulted in initial yield problems. New products that we introduce may not incorporate the features and functionality demanded by OEMs, ODMs, add-in board and motherboard manufacturers and consumers of personal computers and consumer electronics. In addition, we may not successfully develop or introduce new products in sufficient volumes within the appropriate time to meet both the OEMs’ design cycles and market demand. We have in the past experienced delays in the development of some new products. Our failure to successfully develop, introduce or achieve market acceptance for new digital media processors would harm our business. In particular, we experienced delays in the introduction of digital media processors using our next generation technology during the first half of fiscal 2004 and any such delays in the future or failure of these or other processors to meet or exceed specifications of competitive products could materially harm our business.
 
PCI Express is central to our GPU as well as MCP strategies this year and the outcome of this strategy will impact our business.
 
PCI Express is expected to enable a new level of performance for high bandwidth applications like graphics and networking. The transition to PCI Express, which is extremely complex, is central to our GPU and MCP objectives this year. Our transition strategy includes using a PCI Express high-speed interconnect, or HSI. HSI is a complex piece of networking technology that performs high-speed bi-directional interconnect protocol conversion. Using HSI, we transformed some of our GPUs into PCI Express compatible GPUs. In February 2004, we launched the industry’s first top-to-bottom family of PCI Express solutions. During fiscal 2005, we expect to launch and be in full production with a top-to-bottom product line of next generation PCI Express GPUs based on our new GeForce 6 architecture. If we fail to deliver PCI Express in a timely manner or if our PCI Express compatible products do not meet consumer and/or analysts expectations, our business could suffer.
 
Our failure to identify new product opportunities or develop new products could harm our business.
 
As our digital media processors develop and competition increases, we anticipate that product life cycles at the high end will remain short and average selling prices will continue to decline. In particular, we expect average selling prices and gross margins for our digital media processors to decline as each product matures and as unit volume increases. As a result, we will need to introduce new products and enhancements to existing products to maintain overall average selling prices and gross margins. In order for our digital media processors to achieve high volumes, leading PC OEMs, ODMs, and add-in board and motherboard manufacturers must select our digital media processor for design into their products, and then successfully complete the designs of their products and sell them. We may be unable to successfully identify new product opportunities or to develop and bring to market in a timely fashion new products. In addition, we cannot guarantee that new products we develop will be selected for design into PC OEMs’, ODMs’, and add-in board and motherboard manufacturers’ products, that any new designs will be successfully completed or that any new products will be sold. As the complexity of our products and the manufacturing process for products increases, there is an increasing risk that we will experience problems with the performance of products and that there will be delays in the development, introduction or volume shipment of our products. We may experience difficulties related to the production of current or future products or other factors may delay the introduction or volume sale of new products we developed. In addition, we may be unable to successfully manage the production transition risks with respect to future products. Failure to achieve any of the foregoing with respect to future products or product enhancements could result in rapidly declining average selling prices, reduced margins and reduced demand for products or loss of market share. In addition, technologies developed by others may render our digital media processors non-competitive or obsolete or result in our holding excess inventory, any of which would harm our business.
 
We could suffer a loss of market share if our products contain significant defects.
 
Products as complex as those offered by us may contain defects or failures when introduced or when new versions or enhancements to existing products are released. We have in the past discovered defects and incompatibilities with customers’ hardware in certain of our products and may experience delays or loss of revenue to correct any new defects in the future. Errors in new products or releases after commencement of commercial shipments could result in loss of market share or failure to achieve market acceptance. Our products typically go through only one verification cycle prior to beginning volume production and distribution. As a result, our products may contain defects or flaws that are undetected prior to volume production and distribution. If these defects or flaws exist and are not detected prior to volume production and distribution, we may be required to reimburse customers for costs to repair or replace the affected products in the field. These costs could be significant and could adversely affect our business and operating results.
 
 
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Risks Related to Our Partners
 
We depend on foundries and independent contractors to manufacture our products and these third parties may not be able to satisfy our manufacturing requirements, which would harm our business.
 
We do not manufacture the semiconductor wafers used for our products and do not own or operate a wafer fabrication facility. Our products require wafers manufactured with state-of-the-art fabrication equipment and techniques. We utilize TSMC, IBM and UMC to produce our semiconductor wafers and utilize independent subcontractors to perform assembly, testing and packaging. Our wafer requirements represent a significant portion of the total production capacity at TSMC. We depend on these suppliers to allocate to us a portion of their manufacturing capacity sufficient to meet our needs, to produce products of acceptable quality and at acceptable manufacturing yields, and to deliver those products to us on a timely basis at acceptable prices. These manufacturers may be unable to meet our near-term or long-term manufacturing or pricing requirements. We obtain manufacturing services on a purchase order basis. TSMC, IBM and UMC have no obligation to provide us with any specified minimum quantities of product. TSMC, IBM and UMC fabricate wafers for other companies, including certain of our competitors, and could choose to prioritize capacity for other users, reduce or eliminate deliveries to us, or increase the prices that they charge us on short notice. Because the lead-time needed to establish a strategic relationship with a new manufacturing partner could be several quarters, there is no readily available alternative source of supply for any specific product. We believe that long-term market acceptance for our products will depend on reliable relationships with TSMC, IBM, UMC and any other manufacturers used by us to ensure adequate product supply and competitive pricing to respond to customer demand. Any difficulties like these would harm our business.
 
There can be no assurance that IBM will be able to produce wafers of acceptable quality and with acceptable manufacturing yield and deliver those wafers to us and our independent assembly and testing subcontractors on a timely basis.
 
During fiscal 2004, we announced that we had formed a multi-year strategic alliance under which IBM would manufacture certain GeForce GPUs. IBM began manufacturing GeForce GPUs in July 2003 at IBM’s plant in New York. Our manufacturing yields and product performance could suffer due to difficulties associated with adapting our technology and product design to the proprietary process technology and design rules of IBM. Any decrease in manufacturing yields could result in an increase in our per unit costs and force us to allocate our available product supply among our customers. This could potentially harm customer relationships as well as revenue and gross profit. We also face the risk of product recalls or product returns resulting from design or manufacturing defects that are not discovered during the manufacturing and testing process. In the event of a significant number of product returns due to a defect or recall, our business could suffer.
 
We sell our products to a small number of customers and our business could suffer by the loss of these customers.
 
We have only a limited number of customers and our sales are highly concentrated. Although a small number of our customers represent the majority of our revenue, their end customers include a large number of OEMs and system integrators throughout the world. Our sales process involves achieving key design wins with leading PC OEMs and major system builders and supporting the product design into high volume production with key CEMs, ODMs, motherboard and add-in board manufacturers. These design wins in turn influence the retail and system builder channel that is serviced by CEMs, ODMs, motherboard and add-in board manufacturers. Our distribution strategy is to work with a small number of leading independent CEMs, ODMs, motherboard manufacturers, add-in board manufacturers and stocking representatives, each of which has relationships with a broad range of system builders and leading PC OEMs. Currently, we sell a significant majority of our digital media processors directly to stocking representatives, CEMs, ODMs, motherboard and add-in board manufacturers, which then sell boards with our graphics processor to leading PC OEMs, retail outlets and to a large number of system builders. As a result, our business could be harmed by the loss of business from PC OEMs, CEMs, ODMs, motherboard and add-in board manufacturers. In addition, revenue from PC OEMs, CEMs, ODMs, motherboard and add-in board manufacturers that have directly or indirectly accounted for significant revenue in past periods, individually or as a group, may not continue, or may not reach or exceed historical levels in any future period.
 
 
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Difficulties in collecting accounts receivable could result in significant charges against income, which could harm our business.
 
Our accounts receivable are highly concentrated and make us vulnerable to adverse changes in our customers' businesses and to downturns in the economy and the industry. We maintain an allowance for doubtful accounts for estimated losses resulting from the inability of our customers to make required payments. This allowance consists of an amount identified for specific customers and an amount based on overall estimated exposure. As of April 25, 2004 and April 27, 2003 our allowance for doubtful accounts represented 0.4% and 0.5% of revenue for each fiscal quarter, respectively. If the financial condition of our customers were to deteriorate, resulting in an impairment of their ability to make payments, additional allowances may be required which could adversely affect our operating results. We may have to record additional reserves or write-offs in the future, which could harm our business.
 
We are dependent on third parties for assembly, testing and packaging of our products.
 
Our digital media processors are assembled and tested by Siliconware Precision Industries Company Ltd., Amkor Technology, ChipPAC Incorporated and Advanced Semiconductor Engineering. We do not have long-term agreements with any of these subcontractors. As a result of our dependence on third-party subcontractors for assembly, testing and packaging of our products, we do not directly control product delivery schedules or product quality. Any product shortages or quality assurance problems could increase the costs of manufacture, assembly or testing of our products and could harm our business. Due to the amount of time typically required to qualify assemblers and testers, we could experience significant delays in the shipment of our products if we are required to find alternative third parties to assemble or test our products or components. Any delays in delivery of our products could harm our business.
 
We may not be able to realize the potential financial or strategic benefits of business acquisitions and that could hurt our ability to grow our business and sell our products.
 
In the past we have acquired and invested in other businesses that offered products, services and technologies that we believed would help expand or enhance our products and services or help expand our distribution channels. For any previous or future acquisition or investment, the following risks could impair our ability to grow our business and develop new products and, ultimately, could impair our ability to sell our products:
In addition, the consideration for any future acquisition could be paid in cash, shares of our common stock, or a combination of cash and common stock. If the consideration is paid with our common stock, existing stockholders would be further diluted.
 
We rely on third-party vendors to supply us tools for the development of our new products and we may be unable to obtain the tools necessary to develop these products .
 
In the design and development of new products and product enhancements, we rely on third-party software development tools. While we currently are not dependent on any one vendor for the supply of these tools, some or all of these tools may not be readily available in the future. For example, we have experienced delays in the introduction of products in the past as a result of the inability of then available software development tools to fully simulate the complex features and functionalities of our products. The design requirements necessary to meet consumer demands for more features and greater functionality from digital media processors in the future may exceed the capabilities of the software development tools available to us. If the software development tools we use become unavailable or fail to produce designs that meet consumer demands, our business could suffer.
 
 
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Microsoft has announced that it has entered into an agreement with one of our competitors to develop technology for future Xbox products and services. The impact that this announcement may have on our future revenue from the sale of Xbox processors to Microsoft is uncertain.
 
During fiscal 2004, Microsoft announced that it had entered into an agreement with one of our competitors to develop technology for future Xbox products and services. The impact that this announcement may have on our future revenue from the sale of Xbox processors to Microsoft is uncertain, but we do not anticipate that it will have a significant impact upon us until at least the second half of fiscal 2006. Revenue from the sale of Xbox processors to Microsoft during the first quarter of fiscal 2005 and fiscal 2004 accounted for 5% and 9%, respectively, of our total revenue. Revenue from the sale of Xbox processors to Microsoft during fiscal 2004, fiscal 2003 and fiscal 2002 accounted for 15%, 23% and 9%, respectively, of our total revenue.
 
Provisions in our certificate of incorporation, our bylaws and our agreement with Microsoft could delay or prevent a change in control.
 
Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws contain provisions that could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire a majority of our outstanding voting stock. These provisions include the following:
On March 5, 2000, we entered into an agreement with Microsoft in which we agreed to develop and sell graphics chips and to license certain technology to Microsoft and its licensees for use in the Xbox. In the event that an individual or corporation makes an offer to purchase shares equal to or greater than 30% of the outstanding shares of our common stock, Microsoft has first and last rights of refusal to purchase the stock. The provision could also delay or prevent a change in control of NVIDIA.
 
Risks Related to Our Competition
 
The 3D graphics, platform processor and handheld industries are highly competitive and we may be unable to compete.
 
The market for GPUs, MCPs and UMPs for PCs and handhelds in which we compete is intensely competitive and is characterized by rapid technological change, evolving industry standards and declining average selling prices. We believe that the principal competitive factors in this market are performance, breadth of product offerings, access to customers and distribution channels, backward-forward software support, conformity to industry standard APIs, manufacturing capabilities, price of digital media processors and total system costs of add-in boards and motherboards. We expect competition to increase both from existing competitors and new market entrants with products that may be less costly than ours, or may provide better performance or additional features not provided by our products, which could harm our business.
 
Our primary source of competition is from companies that provide or intend to provide GPU and MCP solutions for the PC and handheld segments. Our competitors include the following:
If and to the extent we offer products outside of the personal computer, consumer electronics and handheld segments, we may face competition from some of our existing competitors as well as from companies with which we currently do not compete. We cannot accurately predict if we will compete successfully in any new markets we may enter.
 
 
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Our failure to achieve one or more design wins would harm our business.
 
Our future success will depend in large part on achieving design wins, which entails having our existing and future products chosen for hardware components or subassemblies designed by PC OEMs, ODMs, and add-in board and motherboard manufacturers. Our add-in board and motherboard manufacturers and major OEM and ODM customers typically introduce new system configurations as often as twice per year, generally based on spring and fall design cycles. Accordingly, our existing products must have competitive performance levels or we must timely introduce new products with such performance characteristics in order to be included in new system configurations. Our failure to achieve one or more design wins would harm our business. The process of being qualified for inclusion in an OEM’s product can be lengthy and could cause us to miss a cycle in the demand of end users for a particular product feature, which also could harm our business.
 
Our ability to achieve design wins also depends in part on our ability to identify and ensure compliance with evolving industry standards. Unanticipated changes in industry standards could render our products incompatible with products developed by major hardware manufacturers and software developers, including Intel and Microsoft. This would require us to invest significant time and resources to redesign our products to ensure compliance with relevant standards. If our products are not in compliance with prevailing industry standards for a significant period of time, our ability to achieve design wins could suffer.
 
Risks Related to Market Conditions
 
We are subject to risks associated with international operations which may harm our business.
 
Our reliance on foreign third-party manufacturing, assembly, testing and packaging operations subjects us to a number of risks associated with conducting business outside of the United States, including the following:
We also are subject to general political risks in connection with our international trade relationships. In addition, the laws of certain foreign countries in which our products are or may be manufactured or sold, including various countries in Asia, may not protect our products or intellectual property rights to the same extent as do the laws of the United States. This makes the possibility of piracy of our technology and products more likely.
 
Currently, all of our arrangements with third-party manufacturers provide for pricing and payment in U.S. dollars, and to date we have not engaged in any currency hedging activities, although we may do so in the future. Fluctuations in currency exchange rates could harm our business in the future.
 
We are dependent on the PC market and the rate of its growth has and may in the future have a negative impact on our business.
 
During fiscal 2004, we derived the majority of our revenue from the sale of products for use in the desktop and notebook PC segments, including professional workstations. We expect to continue to derive most of our revenue from the sale or license of products for use in the desktop and notebook PC segments in the next several years. A reduction in sales of PCs, or a reduction in the growth rate of PC sales, will reduce demand for our products. Moreover, changes in demand could be large and sudden. Since PC manufacturers often build inventories during periods of anticipated growth, they may be left with excess inventories if growth slows or if they have incorrectly forecast product transitions. In these cases, PC manufacturers may abruptly suspend substantially all purchases of additional inventory from suppliers like us until the excess inventory has been absorbed.
 
 
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Hostilities involving the United States and/or terrorist attacks could harm our business.
 
The financial, political, economic and other uncertainties following the terrorist attacks upon the United States led to a weakening of the global economy. Subsequent terrorist acts and/or the threat of future outbreak or continued escalation of hostilities involving the United States and Iraq or other countries could adversely affect the growth rate of our revenue and have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. In addition, any escalation in these events or similar future events may disrupt our operations or those of our customers, distributors and suppliers, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.
 
Our products may not continue to be accepted by the PC and consumer electronics segments.
 
Our success will depend in part upon continued broad adoption of our digital media processors for 3D graphics in PC and consumer electronics applications. The market for digital media processors has been characterized by unpredictable and sometimes rapid shifts in the popularity of products, often caused by the publication of competitive industry benchmark results, changes in dynamic random memory devices pricing and other changes in the total system cost of add-in boards, as well as by severe price competition and by frequent new technology and product introductions. Only a small number of products have achieved broad market acceptance and such market acceptance, if achieved, is difficult to sustain due to intense competition. Since the PC segment is our core business, our business would suffer if for any reason our current or future digital media processors do not continue to achieve widespread acceptance in the PC segment. If we are unable to complete the timely development of products or if we were unable to successfully and cost-effectively manufacture and deliver products that meet the requirements of the PC segment, our business would be harmed.
 
Our business is cyclical in nature and an industry downturn could harm our business.
 
Our business is directly affected by market conditions in the highly cyclical semiconductor industry, including alternating periods of overcapacity and capacity constraints, variations in manufacturing costs and yields, significant expenditures for capital equipment and product development and rapid technological change. If we are unable to respond to changes in our industry, which can be unpredictable and rapid, in an efficient and timely manner, our operating results could suffer. In particular, from time to time, the semiconductor industry has experienced significant and sometimes prolonged downturns characterized by diminished product demand and accelerated erosion of average selling prices. If we cannot take appropriate actions such as reducing our costs to sufficiently offset declines in demand, our revenues and earnings will suffer during downturns.
 
Political instability in Taiwan and in The People’s Republic of China could harm our business.
 
Because of our reliance on TSMC and UMC, our business may be harmed by political instability in Taiwan, including the worsening of the strained relations between The People’s Republic of China and Taiwan, or if relations between the U.S. and The People’s Republic of China are strained due to foreign relations events. Furthermore, any substantial disruption in our suppliers’ operations, either as a result of a natural disaster, political unrest, economic instability, acts of terrorism or war, equipment failure or other cause, could harm our business.
 
We are exposed to fluctuations in the market values of our portfolio investments and in interest rates.
 
We invest in a variety of financial instruments, consisting principally of investments in commercial paper, money market funds and highly liquid debt securities of corporations, municipalities and the U.S. Government and its agencies. These investments are denominated in U.S. dollars.
 
We account for our investment instruments in accordance with SFAS No. 115. All of the cash equivalents and marketable securities are treated as "available-for-sale" under SFAS No. 115. Investments in both fixed rate and floating rate interest earning instruments carry a degree of interest rate risk. Fixed rate securities may have their market value adversely impacted due to a rise in interest rates, while floating rate securities may produce less income than expected if interest rates fall. Due in part to these factors, our future investment income may fall short of expectations due to changes in interest rates or we may suffer losses in principal if forced to sell securities that decline in market value due to changes in interest rates. However, because our debt securities are classified as "available-for-sale", no gains or losses are recognized due to changes in interest rates unless such securities are sold prior to maturity.
 
 
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Our stock price may continue to experience significant short-term fluctuations.
 
The price of our common stock has fluctuated greatly. These price fluctuations have been rapid and severe. The price of our common stock may continue to fluctuate greatly in the future due to factors that are non-company specific, such as the decline in the U.S. economy, acts of terror against the U.S., war or due to a variety of company specific factors, including quarter to quarter variations in our operating results, shortfalls in revenue or earnings from levels expected by securities analysts and the other factors discussed above in these risk factors. In the past, following periods of volatility in the market price of a company’s stock, securities class action litigation had been initiated against the issuing company.
 
Risks Related to Intellectual Property, Litigation and Government Action
 
Our industry is characterized by vigorous protection and pursuit of intellectual property rights or positions that could result in substantial costs to us.
 
The semiconductor industry is characterized by vigorous protection and pursuit of intellectual property rights and positions, which has resulted in protracted and expensive litigation. The digital media processor industry in particular has been characterized recently by the aggressive pursuit of intellectual property positions, and we expect our competitors to continue to pursue aggressive intellectual property positions. In addition, from time to time we receive notices or are included in legal actions alleging that we have infringed patents or other intellectual property rights owned by third parties. We expect that, as the number of issued hardware and software patents increases, and as competition in our product lines intensifies, the volume of intellectual property infringement claims may increase. If infringement claims are made against us, we may seek licenses under the claimants’ patents or other intellectual property rights. However, licenses may not be offered at all or on terms acceptable to us, particularly by competitors. The failure to obtain a license from a third party for technology used by us could cause us to incur substantial liabilities and to suspend the manufacture of and sale of one or more products, which could reduce our revenues and harm our business. Furthermore, we may initiate claims or litigation against third parties for infringement of our proprietary rights or to establish the validity of our proprietary rights. We have agreed to indemnify certain customers for certain claims of infringement arising out of sale of our products.
 
Our ability to compete will be harmed if we are unable to adequately protect our intellectual property.
 
We rely primarily on a combination of patents, trademarks, trade secrets, employee and third-party nondisclosure agreements and licensing arrangements to protect our intellectual property in the United States and internationally. We have numerous patents issued and pending in the United States and in foreign countries. Our patents and pending patent applications relate to technology used by us in connection with our products, including our digital media processors. We also rely on international treaties and organizations and foreign laws to protect our intellectual property. We continuously assess whether and where to seek formal protection for particular innovations and technologies based on such factors as: the commercial significance of our operations and our competitors’ operations in particular countries and regions; the location in which our products are manufactured; our strategic technology or product directions in different countries; and the degree to which intellectual property laws exist and are meaningfully enforced in different jurisdictions.
 
Our pending patent applications and any future applications may not be approved. In addition, any issued patents may not provide us with competitive advantages or may be challenged by third parties. The enforcement of patents by others may harm our ability to conduct our business. Others may independently develop substantially equivalent intellectual property or otherwise gain access to our trade secrets or intellectual property. Our failure to effectively protect our intellectual property could harm our business. We have licensed technology from third parties for incorporation in our digital media processors, and expect to continue to enter into license agreements for future products. These licenses may result in royalty payments to third parties, the cross licensing of technology by us or payment of other consideration. If these arrangements are not concluded on commercially reasonable terms, our business could suffer.
 
Litigation against us or our customers concerning infringement would likely result in significant expense to us and divert the efforts of our technical and management personnel.
 
We are currently subject to claims of patent infringement, and we may be subject to patent infringement claims or suits brought by other parties in the future. These claims and any future lawsuits could divert our resources and result in the payment of substantial damages.
 
 
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We are subject to changes in financial accounting standards, which may affect our reported financial results or the way we conduct business.
 
The Financial Accounting Standards Board and various federal legislative proposals have proposed changes to Accounting Principles Generally Accepted in the United States, or U.S. GAAP, that may require us to recognize compensation expense for our employee stock options. We currently us the intrinsic value method to measure compensation expense for stock-based awards to our employees. Under this method, we generally do no recognize compensation expense for an employee stock option when the exercise price of the stock option is equal to the fair market value on the date of grant. If any change to U.S. GAAP is adopted that requires us to recognize compensation expense for our employee stock options, our reported results of operations may be adversely affected.

ITEM 4. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
 
Controls and Procedures
 
(i) Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures. As of April 25, 2004, or the Evaluation Date, we carried out an evaluation under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures (as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act). There are inherent limitations to the effectiveness of any system of disclosure controls and procedures. Accordingly, even effective disclosure controls and procedures can only provide reasonable, not absolute, assurance of achieving their control objectives. Subject to these limitations, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer have concluded that, as of the Evaluation Date, the disclosure controls and procedures were effective to provide reasonable assurance that information required to be disclosed in the reports we file and submit under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported as and when recorded.
 
Our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, does not expect that our disclosure controls and procedures or our internal controls will prevent all error and all fraud. A control system, no matter how well conceived and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the control system are met. Further, the design of a control system must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints, and the benefits of controls must be considered relative to their costs. Because of the inherent limitations in all control systems, no evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance that all control issues and instances of fraud, if any, within us have been detected. These inherent limitations include the realities that judgments in decision-making can be faulty, and that breakdowns can occur because of simple error or mistake. Additionally, controls can be circumvented by the individual acts of some persons, by collusion of two or more people, or by management override of the control. The design of any system of controls also is based in part upon certain assumptions about the likelihood of future events, and there can be no assurance that any design will succeed in achieving its stated goals under all potential future conditions; over time, control may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate. Because of the inherent limitations in a cost-effective control system, misstatements due to error or fraud may occur and not be detected.
 
(ii) Changes in Internal Controls. There were no changes in our internal controls over financial reporting during the fiscal quarter ended April 25, 2004 that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.
 
 
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PART II: OTHER INFORMATION

ITEM 1. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

On December 15, 2000, NVIDIA Corporation and one of our indirect subsidiaries entered into an agreement to purchase certain graphics chip assets from 3dfx. The asset purchase closed on April 18, 2001. In May 2002, we were served with a complaint filed by the landlord of 3dfx’s San Jose, California commercial real estate lease. In October 2002, 3dfx filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California. In December 2002, we were served with a complaint filed by the landlord of 3dfx’s Austin, Texas commercial real estate lease. The landlords’ complaints both assert claims for, among other things, interference with contract, successor liability and fraudulent transfer. The landlords’ are seeking to recover, among other things, amounts owed on their leases in the aggregate amount of approximately $10 million. In March 2003, we were served with a complaint filed by the Trustee appointed by the Bankruptcy Court to represent the interests of the 3dfx bankruptcy estate. The Trustee’s complaint asserts claims for, among other things, successor liability and fraudulent transfer. The Trustee’s complaint seeks additional payments from us, the amount of which has not been quantified. The landlords’ actions have been removed to the Bankruptcy Court from the Superior Court of California and consolidated with the Trustee’s action for purposes of discovery. Discovery is currently proceeding and no trial date has been set. We believe the claims asserted against us are without merit and we will continue to defend ourselves vigorously.

We are subject to other legal proceedings, but we do not believe that the ultimate outcome of any of these proceedings will have a material adverse effect on our financial position or overall trends in results of operations. However, if an unfavorable ruling were to occur in any specific period, there exists the possibility of a material adverse impact on the results of operations of that period.
 
ITEM 2. CHANGES IN SECURITIES, USE OF PROCEEDS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

Not applicable.

ITEM 3. DEFAULTS UPON SENIOR SECURITIES

Not applicable.

ITEM 4. SUBMISSION OF MATTERS TO A VOTE OF SECURITY HOLDERS

Not applicable.

ITEM 5. OTHER INFORMATION

Consistent with Section 10A(i)(2) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as added by Section 202 of the Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act of 2002, NVIDIA is responsible for disclosing the nature of the non-audit services approved by our Audit Committee during a quarter to be performed by our independent auditor. Non-audit services are services other than those provided by our independent auditor in connection with an audit or a review of NVIDIA’s financial statements. During the first quarter of fiscal 2005, our Audit Committee did not approve any new or recurring non-audit services.

In April 2004, our Audit Committee dismissed KPMG LLP as our independent accountants and engaged PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP to audit our financial statements for our fiscal year ending January 30, 2005.

ITEM 6. EXHIBITS AND REPORTS ON FORM 8-K

(a)   Exhibits

31.1
Certification of Chief Executive Officer as required by Rule 13a-14(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
31.2
Certification of Chief Financial Officer as required by Rule 13a-14(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
32.1*
Certification of Chief Executive Officer as required by Rule 13a-14(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
32.2*
Certification of Chief Financial Officer as required by Rule 13a-14(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.

*The certifications attached as Exhibit 32.1 and Exhibit 32.2 accompany this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, are not deemed filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and are not to be incorporated by reference into any filing of Nvidia Corporation under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, whether made before or after the date of this Form 10-Q, irrespective of any general incorporation language contained in such filing.
 
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(b)   Reports on Form 8-K

 
(i)
On February 12, 2004, NVIDIA filed a report on Form 8-K, dated February 12, 2004, furnishing under "Item 12. Disclosure of Results of Operations and Financial Condition" its financial information for the quarter and year ended January 25, 2004.
(ii)
On April 26, 2004, NVIDIA filed a report on Form 8-K, dated April 19, 2004, filing under “Item 4. Change in Registrant’s Certifying Accountant” and “Item 7. Financial Statements and Exhibits” disclosing that the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors had dismissed KPMG LLP as its independent accountants and engaged PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as its independent accountants for the fiscal year ending January 30, 2005.

 
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SIGNATURE


Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, on May 20, 2004.

                       NVIDIA Corporation

                       By: /s/ MARVIN D. BURKETT       
                       Marvin D. Burkett
                       Chief Financial Officer
                       (Principal Financial and Accounting Officer)
 
 
 
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