NVIDIA Shield Delayed Due To “Mechanical Issue”

NVIDIA has just announced that it will delay the shipment of its SHIELD Android game console to “July” (from June 27) as it has found a mechanical issue in (what is probably) the first batch of product. According to NVIDIA, a “3rd party” component is the root cause. We don’t know anything about the severity of the problem but since NVIDIA builds all the critical components, it can’t be that bad. Also, the term “mechanical” would indicate that it has something to do with the body rather than the electronics, which is always reassuring.

“During our final QA process, we discovered a mechanical issue that relates to a 3rd party component.  We want every SHIELD to be perfect, so we have elected to shift the launch date to July.  We’ll update you as soon as we have an exact date.” (NVIDIA)

The company did not elaborate further and would not name the 3rd party in question (what’s the point anyway?), but the overall vibe seems to hint that NVIDIA would rather ship something perfect to those who have pre-ordered the console on May 14 as they are their most hardcore fans/customers. Although this may disappoint some who are eager to get their hands on the product ASAP, a delay to “July” is probably much better than having any customer complaints about the build quality of the product.
We’re not sure if “July” means 1st week or last week, but it’s likely that NVIDIA is still working with this 3rd party supplier before announcing a firm, final, shipping date.

SHIELD is most important to NVIDIA: it is its first end-consumer computer, and we suspect that it is part of NVIDIA’s plan to make Android a “true gaming platform”, which may end up altering the mobile computing balance of power in NVIDIA’s favor. If you have not done so yet, check our review of the SHIELD.

Hubert Nguyen
Categories: Breaking, Gaming
Tags: Android, console, NVIDIA, NVIDIA Shield