TL;DR
- NVIDIA’s $149 Shield TV has reportedly been out of stock for months at major retailers.
- Recent findings suggest that the base model of the popular streaming box may have been discontinued.
- If true, rising memory costs and NVIDIA’s focus on AI could explain why the streaming box is no longer available for purchase.
He NVIDIA Shield TV has gained a loyal following over the last decade by doing something that very few Android television devices manage, that is, stay relevant long after launch. But if you’ve been trying to buy the $149 tube-shaped Shield TV recently, you may have noticed that it’s becoming nearly impossible to find.
According AFTVnewsthere are growing signs that NVIDIA may have quietly discontinued the entry-level Shield TV, leaving the high-end one Shield TV Pro as the only model left to buy.
The current Shield TV lineup launched in 2019, with the standard $149 Shield TV below the $199 Shield TV Pro. While the Pro remains in stock at several retailers, the cheaper model has reportedly been unavailable for months. Amazon has not consistently stocked the device since early April, while retailers like it Best buy and Newegg list it as out of stock. B&H Photo even labels the device as discontinued.
AFTVnews also points out the Shield TV remote, which unexpectedly went on sale on Amazon. According to the report, the accessory had barely been discounted during its six-year shelf life, making the recent price cut look more like an inventory clearance than a routine promotion.
Of course, this doesn’t mean the entire Shield TV line is going away. Earlier this year, NVIDIA senior vice president of hardware engineering Andrew Bell said the company had no plans to stop producing or updating the Shield TV “any time soon.” If that remains true, NVIDIA could simply eliminate the base model and keep only the more popular Shield TV Pro.
The Pro has long been an enthusiast favorite. It offers more RAM, USB ports and expandable storage. It also has significantly better customer reviews than the base model, suggesting it’s the version most buyers get.
Could memory prices be the real reason?
If the basic Shield TV really is gone, it may be another example of how the current memory market is affecting older hardware.
The tech industry has been grappling with rising DRAM and NAND flash memory prices as manufacturers prioritize memory for AI servers and data centers. That has made it difficult for companies to keep consumer electronics products in stores, especially products made with older components.
For a niche streaming box that’s already six years old, and with NVIDIA now focused on its burgeoning AI business, it may no longer make financial sense to keep the cheaper Shield TV in production.
That being said, this remains speculation for now. NVIDIA hasn’t officially announced the end of the entry-level Shield TV, and there’s always the possibility that it’s simply an inventory shortage. We will contact NVIDIA for comment and will update this story if the company responds.
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