Why did EVGA stop making GPUs?

Nvidia is one of the largest, if not the largest, graphics card manufacturers on the market. The company makes its own Founder’s Edition cards and partners with many other companies so they can sell their own custom versions. The list of official partners used to be longer, but some of these companies pulled out of the GPU business because they felt betrayed by their relationship. EVGA was once at the top of the GPU market. It manufactured a sub-line of Nvidia GPUs and many customers gave EVGA graphics cards top marks for quality and reliability.

However, in September 2022, EVGA took customers by surprise by announcing that it would be exiting the GPU market. When Gamers Nexus (via YouTube) interviewed company representatives, they spoke of a general lack of respect from Nvidia. According to EVGA, Nvidia would not provide EVGA with crucial information about its products in advance, not even chip prices. In EVGA’s eyes, this relationship made it difficult to manage its activities. To be fair, though, apparently other Nvidia partners like Asus and MSI have filed similar complaints, although they still make modified Nvidia cards.

While EVGA told Gamers Nexus the decision was a matter of “principle” rather than funding, money played a role. EVGA’s profit margins for GPUs were around 5% at the low end, while other partners achieved profit margins of 10% at the low end. However, this wasn’t a case of Nvidia cheating EVGA; while most partners made their own GPU cooling fans and circuit boards (and other components), EVGA purchased theirs from third parties. Although the company was clearly making money, it was not making enough to justify continuing the partnership.

After EVGA stopped selling GPUs, many were worried about the company’s future. Gamers Nexus bluntly asked EVGA CEO Andrew Han if he was considering retiring or selling the company. Han said no, and EVGA is still there. If you look at EVGA’s current product catalog, you’ll notice that it’s downright anemic compared to previous years’ lineups. EVGA previously offered long-lasting liquid cooling systems, gaming mice, and motherboards, and you can still buy some of these products from retailers like Newegg, but many are refurbished. These days, EVGA’s website exclusively sells power supplies and overclocking software.

While EVGA hasn’t made any major announcements regarding its finances or layoffs, between its current lack of products and the shutdown of its official forums in favor of Reddit, many people believe the company’s days are numbered. After all, even though EVGA made very little money on each GPU, graphics cards still accounted for 80% of the company’s total revenue. While this is just speculation, the common theory is that EVGA cut off its nose in revenge when it decided to stop making GPUs.