Graphics Add-in Board shipments increase modest 0.2% from last quarter

The most recent quarterly update from Jon Peddie Research shows AIB volume down from a year earlier.

Overall shipments of graphics add-in boards (AIBs) for the first quarter of 2011 came in slightly above 4Q10 at 19.03 million units compared to 18.84 million. According to the most recent update from Jon Peddie Research, shipments in 1Q11 fell short of the volume from the same quarter a year ago. Nvidia unit shipments decreased by 2% from Q4, while AMD increased 5.7% for the same period.

The sequential trend was normal while the year-over-year trend was not. Additonally, 4Q10 did not conform to the normal seasonal cycle, but was down a bit compared to previous years, so the growth in 1Q11, even though modest, was a positive change.

The JPR forecast for upcoming shipping volume has been modified since the last report, and is less aggressive on add-in boards.

Table 1 JPR AIB report 1Q11 — Graphics add-in board market share comparisions for Nvidia, AMD, and other. (Source: Jon Peddie Research)

Over 19 million AIBs shipped in 1Q11. Nvidia was the leader in unit shipments for the quarter, elevated by double attach and GPU-compute/CUDA sales.

Pulse of the market

The AIB market is fueled at the high-end by the enthusiast gamer, small in volume (~9m a year) but high in dollars (average spend for an AIB ~$300). The volume comes from the Performance and Mainstream segments. And GPU-compute is adding to sales on the high end. The Workstation Market is smaller in unit sales than the enthusiastic segment but characterized by higher average selling prices (ASPs).

For the year the AIB market is expected to hit $19.8 billion, down 4.5% from 2010 due to a gradual decline in ASP even though units shipments will be up.

The complete AIB report, available for purchase from Jon Peddie Research, covers seven regions and reports on the value of AIB sales and units in those regions. More more information visit the JPR website.