Cryptocurrency mining is no longer a success in Nvidia

Disappointing sales - Nvidia's revenue from the sale of mining GPUs dedicated to cryptocurrencies is experiencing further significant declines during Q3 2021.

The product line is even a blot on the company's financial reports, which otherwise show a company in top form on its other products and overall performance.

Cryptocurrency mining: Nvidia stumbles
Nvidia's fiscal Q3 2021 report shows that the company's sales of GPUs dedicated to cryptocurrency mining suffered a 60 percent drop from Q2 2021, from $266 million to $105 million. These sales are expected to see another decline during the final quarter of 2021.

According to Nvidia, total sales related to this mining infrastructure are $526 million since the product's launch, or 3% of the company's total revenue of $19.27 billion over the period.

Nvidia had already failed to meet its sales targets for these specific products during the second quarter of 2021.

The company's CFO, Colette Kress, had announced forecasts of $400 million for this product line, during the Q1 2021 earnings conference call. In the end, Nvidia had only achieved nearly two-thirds of the sales forecast in Q2 2021.

A thriving third quarter thanks to gaming and data centers
Despite the relatively poor performance of mining-related sales, Nvidia posted positive overall results during Q3 2021. Its revenue reached $7.10 billion, a 50 percent increase over its sales for the same period in 2020, and a 9 percent growth over the previous quarter.

Gaming recorded a record $3.22 billion in sales, up 42% over the same period in 2020. Data center revenue was $2.94 billion, up 55% from Q3 2020.

Nvidia had clamped its graphics cards by 50% in Q2 2021, to discourage Ethereum (ETH) miners from using them to mine ether.
A measure that ultimately did not boost sales for mining processors in Q3 2021.