Nvidia has long been a PC graphics company. But, times are changing. Nvidia has told press that the demand for Android phones (and the manufacturing of many Android models) is more than enough incentive for the company to start licensing out to other companies. Nvidia wants a slice of the smartphone pie.

Nvidia will begin selling licenses starting with the company's Kepler GPU core. In addition, Nvidia's visual computing portfolio will also be up for grabs. This portfolio will enable other companies to develop individual GPUs using Nvidia patents. Why the change of heart?

PCs Are Slowly Fading

If you work in an office filled with PCs, you may find it hard to believe that PCs are fading. However, this is absolutely the case. PC sales are quickly slumping with mobile sales cornering the market. Companies like Nvidia that originally catered exclusively to a PC market have to take advantage of the current trend. That trend happens to be mobile.

The fact that Nvidia is starting to license out its products to other companies means that you will see a lot of new devices with Nvidia parts. Throughout the next coming months (and especially around the holiday season) Nvidia is going to be a popular company. While an unusual move for Nvidia, it just makes sense - it's also not the first time that Nvidia has branched out. Nvidia did partner with Sony on the PS3. It's also a move that Nvidia's competitors are already making.

AMD Will Bring Stiff Competition

AMD and Nvidia are often neck-in-neck. AMD has had the upper hand (as far as reach goes) for awhile, though. AMD processors are already in various gaming consoles from Microsoft to Sony, and the company also has some laptop presence. Prior to mobile, the PC ruled the market. Now, that's all changing, and companies like Nvidia and AMD have to get on board or be left behind to drown.

Not only will AMD and Nvidia be in every existing mobile device and platform, but the two companies are now both posed to take over whatever may arise in the future. By providing licenses to other companies, Nvidia is opening up its technology to any future manufacturer as well as current big players. It's a step forward for Nvidia, but is this company still too far behind competitors like Qualcomm?

Nvidia's Slow and Steady Philosophy

It seems as though Nvidia competitors are announcing new releases way more often than Nvidia does. Nvidia's company policy has always been to do things a bit slower than other companies by waiting until products are perfected. It's not a bad strategy, but it's one that has been highly criticized.

Will there be a market for Nvidia licenses now that the company has opened up its doors? Even though Nvidia sends out products a bit slower than competitors, the Nvidia name is still a solid one - and one that manufacturers will want to have. Agree? Disagree? Let me know what you think about Nvidia's latest plan.