I know Intel is dipping its toe into the GPU market, but let’s be real, AMD and nVidia are the only options and have been for the last 20+ years. The manufacturers/assemblers of the complete graphics cards are varied and widespread, but the core tech comes from two companies only.
Why is this the case? Or am I mistaken and am just brainwashed by marketing, and there are in fact other viable options for GPUs?
Cheers!
In general, tech is an industry with high fixed costs and low costs per unit sold. That kind of pricing structure tends to limit competition.
Nvidia was founded at a time when outsourcing chip fabrication was common and viable, so all Nvidia had to do was focus on design. After a series of failures and near bankruptcy, Nvidia was finally able to invent the idea of a GPU and sell it to the marketplace.
After that Nvidia bought several companies to round out its patent portfolio and capabilities, remaining a dominant company in an industry it created. The only real competition was with other companies that had previous chip design experience.