3dfx produrrà solo chip

LAS VEGAS (CNNfn) - Two years after striking out in a new direction, graphics-chip maker 3dfx is going back to its roots in an attempt to regain the company's dwindling strength in an increasingly tight market.

The company plans to close its Juarez, Mexico, card manufacturing plant and remove itself from the business of building the graphics cards that reside in desktop PCs. This is an abrupt switch from the December 1998 takeover of STB Systems, which 3dfx heralded as a move that would put them in charge of their own destiny. Instead, that move -- combined with numerous production delays and supply problems -- has removed the company from its once-dominant position in the industry.

"We're trying to be more fiscally responsible," said Lisa Grubb, a spokesperson for the company. "Basically, we're reinventing ourselves."

3dfx in August reported a second-quarter-revenue decline of more than 36 percent from the previous year. A substantial reason for the loss was the delay of its Voodoo5 graphics boards, which - though introduced at 1999's Comdex show -- were not available at retail until nearly late in the second quarter. At this year's Comdex, 3dfx has chosen to focus on products currently available - and says it will stop predicting when its next-generation chips (code-named Mosaic) will be available.