Graphics card giant Nvidia Corp. has reported its financial results for the first quarter of fiscal 2018, disclosing for the first time the revenue generated from sales to the cryptocurrency sector: $289 million. This figure, part of the OEM segment, stems from GPUs used for cryptocurrency mining and came in stronger than the company had anticipated, according to the official earnings release and CFO commentary.
Record Revenue and Crypto Impact
Nvidia posted record total revenue of $3.21 billion for the quarter, up 66% year-over-year and 10% sequentially. All major platforms — Gaming, Professional Visualization, Datacenter, and Automotive — contributed to growth. Gaming revenue rose 68% year-over-year but declined 1% sequentially. Datacenter revenue exceeded $700 million, up 71% year-over-year. The standout line item was the $289 million attributed to GPUs for cryptocurrency mining, embedded within OEM sales.
On the earnings conference call, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang acknowledged that “crypto miners bought a lot of our GPUs in the quarter and it drove prices up. I think that a lot of gamers weren’t able to buy into the new GeForce as a result.” Huang underscored that cryptocurrency represents a long-term shift in value exchange, calling blockchain and crypto “a fundamental new form of computing.” However, the company cautioned that crypto-related revenue is expected to fall by roughly two-thirds in the current quarter, reflecting the volatile nature of mining demand.
Competitor AMD Also Gains
Nvidia’s main rival, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), also benefited from the crypto mining boom. According to research firm Jon Peddie Research, AMD’s GPU market share climbed from 27.2% to 33.7% in Q4 2017, driven by miner demand. AMD’s products offered similar mining performance at lower prices. In its Q1 2018 earnings, AMD posted revenue of $1.65 billion and net income of $81 million, with CEO Dr. Lisa Su attributing the strong start to “40% year-over-year revenue growth” partly thanks to continued demand for mining hardware.
The crypto mining frenzy has provided a significant but temporary boost to GPU vendors. As dedicated ASIC miners become more prevalent and proof-of-work algorithms shift, the long-term outlook for GPU mining remains uncertain. Nvidia and AMD must navigate the delicate balance between serving gamers and capitalizing on miner demand, ensuring sustainable growth in the evolving crypto hardware landscape.