Chip recall activists managed to infiltrate Nvidia’s first Nvision visual computing conference. It was a highlight in an otherwise non-eventful event.

Nvidia backed away from making any new product announcements, insisting that it wasn’t about Nvidia but for the visual computing industry as a whole. That didn’t stop website TG Daily reporting the presence of Unite Here members, obviously uninvited.

Who is Unite Here? It’s a labor organization representing workers in the following industries in North America: hospitality, gaming, apparel, textile, retail, distribution, food service and laundry. A site called My Nvidia Fail is up on Blogger, highlighting the flaws in Nvidia’s laptop chipsets.

At Nvision, flourescent green flyers were handed out with the following title emblazoned: “Find the flawed chip … and you could get NVIDIA FAIL!” The newsletter also had an excerpt of Wall Street Journal’s recent article on Nvidia’s notebook chip woes. Purportedly Unite Here vice president Jim Dupont has issued a statement condemning Nvidia of “putting the burden of Nvidia’s chip failure on consumers and said that Nvidia wll have to “recall their defective chips.”

Details are somewhat murky and the supposed statement is not available on the Net. Unite Here is also embroiled in a dispute with Aramak, an Nvidia distributor. Though the My Nvidia Fail website highlights the need for Nvidia to publicly declare the faulty chips and issue replacements, the question is why a labor organization would be involved with a consumer issue? Is Unite Here highlighting the issue to get Nvidia to pressure Aramak or is the My Nvidia Fail an independent site from Unite Here with a separate agenda?

Back to Nvidia, there is speculation that Nvidia intends to take on Intel what its emphasis on Graphics Processing Units or GPUs…inside PCs. Perhaps Nvidia is attempting to make up for the shortfall in its earnings this quarter by attempting to take on Intel as the pretty much default provider of onboard graphics. ATI is trouncing Nvidia on the field right now (and are likely keeping AMD afloat) so Nvidia needs to find a means to stay relevant, despite all the bad press and sluggish sales.

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Entry was posted on Tuesday, August 26th, 2008 at 5:33 am under Legal.

Read more entries by Erna Mahyuni.
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