- GPU gross sales for Q3 are down nearly 8% year-on-year
- That is usually a robust interval for gross sales of discrete graphics playing cards
- It appears that evidently players are holding off for RTX 5000 and RDNA 4 GPUs
Usually, this time of yr would witness sturdy gross sales within the desktop GPU market, however one analyst agency observes that Q3 2024 has seen a definite drop in shopping for exercise.
This comes from Jon Peddie Analysis (JPR), which has compiled figures for Q3 gross sales of ‘graphics add-in boards’ (that means standalone GPUs that slot into desktop PCs) discovering that 8.1 million models have been shifted within the quarter.
That’s down 7.9% on the identical quarter in 2023, a reasonably hefty drop, and it’s additionally down in comparison with Q2 2024, with a good bigger lower of 14.5%.
AMD misplaced a bit extra floor right here, too, as Nvidia now has 90% of the discrete graphics card market (up from 88% in Q2), with Crew Purple holding the remaining 10% (down from 12%). Intel Arc merchandise don’t register on the scales for standalone GPUs, sadly for Crew Blue – although unsurprisingly it nonetheless holds the bulk share with regards to CPU-integrated graphics.
The longer term additionally appears to be like gloomy, JPR forecasts, as discrete GPUs are forecast to have a adverse compound annual progress charge of -6%, with the market set to shrink additional by way of to 2028.
Evaluation: Consumers are enjoying a ready recreation
Clearly, this isn’t nice information for any of the GPU giants, however AMD can be notably displeased to see extra market share slip away from it – the corporate is barely simply clinging onto double digits at this level.
A yr in the past, Crew Purple had a 17% share of the market. So, regardless of some notably profitable Radeon GPU launches in current occasions – specifically the RX 7900 GRE, which in actual fact tops our record of the finest graphics playing cards, and the RX 7800 XT, a robust mid-range providing that headed up that record when it got here out final yr – AMD is floundering, not less than based on these stats.
Why are total GPU gross sales down in a reversal of the conventional image for the third quarter? That’s absolutely because of the proximity of next-gen graphics playing cards from AMD and Nvidia, that are about to launch, in concept, at CES 2025 in each circumstances.
Avid gamers are seemingly holding off for these RTX 5000 GPUs and RDNA 4 GPUs – I do know I’m, because it simply is smart at this stage of the launch timeframe. Certainly, gross sales might have been affected earlier this yr, too, as would-be patrons might have nonetheless been hopeful that these next-gen graphics playing cards might flip up late in 2024 – together with Intel’s Battlemage desktop GPUs (2nd-gen fashions that have been just lately revealed). We’re additionally prone to see some potential RTX 4000 and RX 7000 worth drops when the brand new playing cards are revealed, which cash-strapped PC players might be ready for.
An additional situation that Jon Peddie factors out is that the connect charge of discrete GPUs relative to CPUs in desktop PCs has dropped, that means that extra PCs are transport with no discrete graphics card, counting on built-in graphics as an alternative. That connect charge fell by 26.9% in Q3 in comparison with the earlier quarter, which once more is a shaky signal for GPU makers.
Lastly, the explanation for the prediction of adverse progress by way of to 2028 is Trump coming into workplace within the US and imposing import tariffs (notably on China) which can be probably going to push up the worth of PCs and parts by a hefty quantity.
So those that are ready for next-gen GPUs within the US would possibly want to maneuver fairly swiftly when these fashions (hopefully) go on sale early subsequent yr, earlier than probably main worth hikes begin kicking in for all method of shopper electronics.
Through Tom’s {Hardware}
