GPU shipments down 35 percent in Q4 2008, NVIDIA gaining share

Posted on Thursday, January 29 2009 @ 19:33 CET by Thomas De Maesschalck
Jon Peddie Research resulted a report about the graphics chip market in the fourth quarter of 2008. For the first time since 2000 sales of GPUs have dropped from Q3 to Q4, shipments sank 35 percent from 111.26 million units to 72.35 million. Shipments were down 28 percent year-over-year, in the same period a year ago a total of 100.5 million GPUs shipped.

Overall marketshare
All GPU makers suffered from the economic slowdown, but Jon Peddie mentions the third quarter was unexpectedly strong. In the fourth quarter, Intel remained on top with a marketshare of 47.8 percent, down from 49.4 percent in the third quarter but still up from 43.5 percent a year earlier. NVIDIA saw its marketshare increase from 27.8 percent to 30.7 percent, but still has less than the 33.6 percent of the market it held a year earlier. AMD is the third largest GPU shipper, but the firm saw its marketshare decline from 20.6 percent in the third quarter to 19.3 percent in the fourth quarter.

The research firm also notes over one third of all PCs being shipped today now have more than one GPU, although the majority of this are desktop PCs and notebooks with both a discrete graphics card and an IGP.

“The fourth quarter is usually a positive quarter for the computer industry. There has obviously been some inventory problems in the quarter as sales failed to live up to the optimistic expectations of the third quarter, 2008.,” said Dr. Jon Peddie, president of Jon Peddie Research in Tiburon California. “Vendors were bracing for a slower than usual quarter due to economic factors, but performance this quarter was surprisingly low. Put simply, the market stalled in the fourth quarter. Due to the worldwide financial market meltdown, the U.S. housing market meltdown, layoffs, and media reports, the consumer has hunkered down to wait out the storm.

“We’re forecasting a strong Q3 and Q4 for 2009 and bracing for what will probably be the worst Q1 and Q2 decline we’ve seen since the Internet bubble burst of 2000.”
Desktop and notebook market
In the fourth quarter of 2008, 37.45 million GPUs shipped for the desktop, a 39.5 percent quarterly drop. In comparison, 34.89 million units shipped for the notebook market. Shipments for desktop PCs are higher because these systems are more likely to have more than one GPU.

In the desktop market NVIDIA had a marketshare of 37.9 percent, while AMD managed to increase its marketshare from 20.3 percent in the third quarter to 21.4 percent in the fourth quarter. Intel and others make up the other 40.7 percent of the market.

In the notebook market Intel leads with a marketshare of 59.2 percent, up from 56.2 percent in the third quarter. NVIDIA takes the second spot with 22.9 percent, up from 21.8 percent, while AMD's marketshare dropped from 20.9 percent to 17.1 percent.


About the Author

Thomas De Maesschalck

Thomas has been messing with computer since early childhood and firmly believes the Internet is the best thing since sliced bread. Enjoys playing with new tech, is fascinated by science, and passionate about financial markets. When not behind a computer, he can be found with running shoes on or lifting heavy weights in the weight room.



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Re: GPU shipments down 35 percent in Q4 2008, NVIDIA gaining share
by Anonymous on Friday, January 30 2009 @ 4:47 CET
People who liked AMD's products bought them earlier than the 4th quarter (generally speaking). People who preferred Nvidia, were in large disappointed in the Q4 offerings and decided to wait.

Now that Q1 is here and Nvidia is back in the game, the real deal will be how folks act now, and who would prefer to wait for 40nm parts from both teams.

Being "late" the the 40nm game will be extremely detrimental to the loser.



  • Reply by Anonymous on Friday, January 30 2009 @ 15:33 CET

    I doubt it, enthusiasts are just a tiny fraction of the market. The average consumer just gets whatever their PC vendor sells them.