Graphics card sales fall off a cliff – but there are good reasons why
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Graphics card sales are in a major slump, at least according to the latest numbers from an analyst firm that regularly tracks the GPU world.
The headline stats for Q3 2022 from Jon Peddie Research (opens in new tab) (JPR) are making for pretty miserable ratings, with sales of both integrated (on processors) and discrete (standalone) GPUs dropping to 75.5 million units. That’s a sky-high 25.1% compared to the same quarter last year (and it’s down 10.5% from the previous quarter of this year, Q2 2022).
Desktop graphics card shipments were down 15.4% year-over-year, and the picture was worse with laptop GPUs dropping 30% to make for the “biggest drop since the 2009 recession,” as JPR notes. So this is the worst slump in 13 years, in other words – nasty indeed.
Breaking things down into individual GPU makers and total market share, AMD was the hardest hit with a 20% market share in Q2 2022 falling to 12% in Q3, which is an alarming decline.
Nvidia also lost ground, dropping from 18% share to 16%, and Intel made gains here, with market share rising from 62% to 72%.
Remember, this is for all GPUs, both desktop and laptop, discrete and integrated, which is why Intel does so well with its CPUs commonly used in notebooks (and sporting integrated graphics). We don’t get a market share breakdown for individual desktop GPUs, but that’s where Nvidia invariably leads the way.
Analysis: Collecting headwind strength
This comes as a bit of a shock on the face of it, and the precipitous decline plus that headline figure of the worst slump in over a decade will have raised some eyebrows this morning. The third quarter is usually a strong suit, with back-to-school sales and the holiday season looming anyway.
However, are these statistics really that surprising when you think about it? We believe not, and let’s take a look at the main reasons why.
First, the crypto crash that took effect earlier this year has led to a weakening of demand from miners buying GPUs, among others. Additionally, during the third quarter of this year, we also saw a lot of talk about next-generation graphics cards – with some gamers no doubt deciding that now isn’t the right time to buy, when a much better GPU is on the way soon. corner.
Granted, we’ve only seen very expensive Nvidia’s RTX 4000 series graphics cards so far, and we’ll soon be getting near-expensive RX 7000 models from AMD, but that won’t have stopped a good number of people from thinking that more affordable next-generation GPUs aren’t far off – or that RTX 3000 or RX 6000 prices will drop further, which they still do.
Another element at play here is undoubtedly the cost of living crisis and concerns about rampant inflation, especially in countries like the US and UK. Money is getting much tighter, and so there’s less disposable income to spend on upgrading expensive graphics cards or buying new PCs or laptops. And while GPU prices, as noted, are still falling, they’re still barely reasonable – with those new next-gen graphics cards doing nothing to remedy that situation.
In short, there are a lot of headwinds, although JPR is cautiously optimistic about the next quarter. While Q4 deliveries are likely to still fall, or so is the general sentiment in the industry, average selling prices will rise (which makes sense with those pricey new Lovelace and RDNA 3 models), and JPR concludes that “delivery will be fine [for Q4]and everyone will have a nice holiday.”
We think the picture might be a bit rockier than this, but time will tell.
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