JPR’s Market Watch report says PC GPU market shipments decreased -5.3% sequentially from last quarter but increased 14.9% year-to-year.

As part of its ongoing research on the PC graphics market, Jon Peddie Research (JPR) has completed its Market Watch report for the first quarter of 2020. Before 2020, the PC market was showing signs of stabilizing into a new normal. JPR’s Market Watch report confirms that trend for the first quarter of 2020, for this very unusual year.

The three major players in the PC GPU market are AMD, Intel, and Nvidia. Overall GPU shipments decreased -5.3% from last quarter: AMD’s shipments decreased -16.6%, Nvidia’s shipments decreased -13.6%, and Intel’s shipments increased 0.5%.

JPR continuously tracks market share for the PC GPU suppliers to create a picture of the competitive landscape. (More detail is provided in JPR’s Add-in-Board Report.) AMD’s market share from last quarter decreased -2.3%, Intel’s market share increased 3.8%, and Nvidia’s market share decreased -1.58%.

Quick highlights

• AMD’s overall unit shipments decreased by -16.6% quarter-to-quarter, Intel’s total shipments increased by 0.5% from last quarter, and Nvidia’s decreased -13.6%.
• The overall attach rate of GPUs (includes integrated and discrete GPUs) to PCs for the quarter was 128% which was down -4.8% from last quarter.
• The overall PC market decreased by -1.74% quarter-to-quarter and increased by 15.53% year-to-year.
• Desktop graphics add-in boards (AIBs that use discrete GPUs) decreased -19.53% from last quarter.
• Q1’20 saw a decrease in tablet shipments from last quarter.

The first quarter is typically flat to down compared to the previous quarter. This quarter was down.

The above chart expresses total unit shipments (in red), and the platform share, as well as the current quarter, quarter-to-quarter results, and year-to-year quarter results.

Jon Peddie, President of JPR, notes “COVID-19 has been disruptive and had varying effects on the market. Some sales that might have occurred in Q3 (such as notebooks for the back-to-school season) have been pulled in to Q1 and probably will continue to sell well in Q2. That will unbalance the seasonality usually seen but not have a major impact on the overall sales for the year.

We believe the stay-at-home orders are creating pent up demand. Some of it will be offset due to the record-setting unemployment. Although unemployment will have a limited effect on many computer buyers, who may at least weather the early phases of the pandemic lockdowns and subsequent recession because their work lends itself to remote computing, consumer confidence is going to be impacted and jobs will be lost.”

GPUs are traditionally a leading indicator of the market since a GPU goes into every system before the suppliers ship the PC, most of the semiconductor vendors are guiding down for next quarter, by an average of -9%. Some that guidance is based on normal seasonality, but there is also a factor for the Coronavirus impact.

JPR also publishes a series of reports on the graphics Add-in-Board Market and PC Gaming Hardware Market, which covers the total market including system and accessories, and looks at 31 countries.

Pricing and availability

JPR’s Market Watch is available now in both electronic and hard copy editions and sells for $2,750. Included with this report is an Excel workbook with the data used to create the charts, the charts themselves, and supplemental information. The annual subscription price for JPR’s Market Watch is $5,500 and includes four quarterly issues. Full subscribers to JPR services receive Tech Watch (the company’s bi-weekly report) and a copy of Market Watch as part of their subscription.

Click here to learn more about this major report, or to download it now. Or, for more information, call 415/435-9368 or visit the Jon Peddie Research website at www.jonpeddie.com.

Contact Robert Dow at JPR ([email protected]) for a free sample of Tech Watch.

About Jon Peddie Research

Dr. Jon Peddie has been active in the graphics and multimedia fields for more than 30 years. Jon Peddie Research is a technically oriented multimedia and graphics research and consulting firm. Based in Tiburon, California, JPR provides consulting, research, and other specialized services to technology companies in a variety of fields including graphics development, multimedia for professional applications and consumer electronics, high-end computing, and Internet-access, product development. JPR’s Market Watch is a quarterly report focused on the market activity of PC graphics controllers for notebook and desktop computing.