Nvidia recently trimmed the prices of its GeForce 6600, 6200, FX5200 and MX4000 series, by between $1 and $15 per chip, according to Taiwanese DigiTimes.com.

The price cuts are aimed to drive market demand during the traditional off-season, as Taiwan-based graphics card makers are reporting sequential drops in their May shipments, sources at graphics-card makers commented.

The biggest cuts were made to the price of its GeForce 6200 with TurboCache, a low-end part pitched at system integrators as an alternative to integrated chipsets' on-board graphics engines.

However, the price cuts on its entry-level and mainstream chips may prevent Nvidia?s from reaching its earnings estimates for its fiscal third quarter, and rumors of the price cut have already damaged the company?s share price.

Nvidia reported strong results for the first quarter of fiscal 2006, which ended May 1, 2005.

In related news, next week Nvidia will open its branch office in Beijing, where it plans to introduce its SLI-supporting G70 graphics chip during the inauguration.

Rival ATI Technologies said that its market share in the China channel market has surpassed 50% from March, as a chipset shortage in the first quarter is easing, but in the OEM market, Nvidia claims it continues to maintain about a 60% share.