NVIDIA 2016 Annual Report Download - page 176

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We introduced the Quadro M6000, a powerful professional GPU, and the Quadro Visual Computing Appliance, which
contains eight M6000 GPUs. We also rolled out NVIDIA Iray plugins for Autodesk Maya and Autodesk 3ds Max, which
enable users to create designs incorporating real-world lights and materials faster and easier than before, and enabled
professional designers to bring virtual reality to applications, with the launch of NVIDIA DesignWorks VR.
We announced our next-generation Pascal GPU architecture. This architecture is expected to accelerate deep learning
applications faster than our current-generation Maxwell processors. In addition, we unveiled our next generation virtualized
graphics platform - NVIDIA GRID 2.0, which delivers graphics-intensive applications to connected devices. We also shipped
cuDNN 3.0, which improves performance of deep learning training on GPUs.
Further, we announced that the Swiss Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology was the first major national
weather service to use a GPU-accelerated supercomputer to improve daily forecasts. We introduced an end-to-end hyperscale
datacenter deep learning platform - consisting of two accelerators, the NVIDIA Tesla M40 and NVIDIA Tesla M4 - that
lets web-services companies accelerate deep learning workloads. In addition, we announced that leading web-services
companies were increasingly adopting our accelerated service platform to power the machine learning and high performance
computing applications.
Tegra Processor Business
For the automotive market, we are partnering with several companies to use our NVIDIA DRIVE PX platform - a car
computer that utilizes deep learning to enable self-driving capabilities - in their autonomous driving efforts. We
launched NVIDIA DRIVE™ PX 2, a powerful engine for in-vehicle artificial intelligence and announced that Volvo will
use DRIVE PX 2 in their autonomous-car pilot program next year. We were featured in new production vehicles and concept
cars with NVIDIA-powered digital cockpits, including Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Porsche, Bentley and Honda, at the
International Auto Show in Frankfurt, Germany, and also furthered our relationship with Tesla Motors, which introduced
the Model X equipped with an NVIDIA-powered infotainment system and digital instrument cluster.
During fiscal year 2016, we launched the NVIDIA SHIELD Android TV device and GeForce NOW, which allows
players to stream video games from the cloud to their SHIELD devices.
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
Management’s discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations are based upon our consolidated
financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United
States, or U.S. GAAP. The preparation of these financial statements requires us to make estimates and judgments that affect
the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue, cost of revenue, expenses and related disclosure of contingencies. On
an on-going basis, we evaluate our estimates, including those related to revenue recognition, inventories, income taxes,
goodwill, cash equivalents and marketable securities, stock-based compensation, and litigation, investigation and settlement
costs and other contingencies. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that are
believed to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the
carrying values of assets and liabilities.
We believe the following critical accounting policies affect our significant judgments and estimates used in the
preparation of our consolidated financial statements. Our management has discussed the development and selection of these
critical accounting policies and estimates with the Audit Committee of our Board of Directors. The Audit Committee has
reviewed our disclosures relating to our critical accounting policies and estimates in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.