GPU Shipments Down in Q1
August 25, 2015

GPU Shipments Down in Q1

Jon Peddie Research (JPR) has released a new report on GPUs found in PCs. It found that GPU shipments for the first quarter were down, below even the 10-year average of -3.6%.

In a nutshell: 

AMD's overall unit shipments decreased -17.80% quarter-to-quarter, Intel's total shipments decreased -12.01% from last quarter, and Nvidia's decreased -13.5%.

The attach rate of GPUs (includes integrated and discrete GPUs) to PCs for the quarter was 148%, which was up 2.95% from last quarter, and 30.57% of PCs had discrete GPUs, which is up 0.39%.

The overall PC market decreased -14.77% quarter-to-quarter, and decreased -6.5% year-to-year.

Desktop graphics add-in boards (AIBs) that use discrete GPUs decreased -8.79% from last quarter-less than the PC market.

Because GPUs go into every system before it is shipped, GPUs shipments are a leading indicator of the market. Most of the PC vendors are guiding cautiously for Q2, indicating GPU shipments may be down in Q2, too. 

The Gaming PC segment, where higher-end GPUs are used, was a bright spot in the market in the quarter. Nvidia's Maxwell-based AIBs continued to do well, and the company even managed to boost its market share in desktop. AMD, on the other hand, saw an improvement in its market share for discrete GPUs in notebooks, even though the overall notebook segment dropped. 

PC shipments have been steady and seem to have regained a seasonal pattern.

JPRs Market Watch report is available for $2,500 in electronic and hard-copy editions.