Nvidia Ditches Base Shield TV Due to Rising Component Costs
Nvidia has announced that it will be discontinuing its base Shield TV streaming device due to rising component costs. The company cited 'the cost of components, including memory,' which has 'increased substantially across the industry' as the reason for the decision.
The base Shield TV was first released in 2015 and was designed as a quasi-gaming console. Despite its age, Nvidia continued to support the device with new system-on-chip (SoC) updates and software releases. However, the company will now focus on selling the higher-end Shield Pro, which costs $300 and features 3GB of RAM and 16GB of storage.
This move marks a significant shift in Nvidia's priorities as it continues to dominate the gaming market. The company's CEO, Jensen Huang, had previously pledged to continue supporting the Shield TV 'as long as we shall live.' However, with the increasing cost of components, including memory, it seems that Nvidia can no longer justify maintaining the base device.