NVIDIA PARTNER Creative Labs said it does not have an exclusive deal with Nvidia in Europe, damping down potential incandescence from the graphic chip firm"s original equipment manufacturers here.
In a statement, Creative said that it had never claimed an exclusive in Europe with the GeForce FX. It said that it will introduce product at the same time as another unnamed company which has a strong retail presence in Central Europe, while Creative itself will sell its branded product throughout the continent.
But Creative also points out that availability of its product applies to retail packaged Nvidia GeForce FX cards. It makes a distinction between its strategy and that of Nvidia"s OEM partners, which will also have product just as soon as it"s available. But, of course, these products will be available for PC builds rather than in the shops.
In any case, it appears that availability of Creative branded GeForce FX cards, at the end of this month, is likely to be limited, while quantities will ramp up during the rest of the quarter.