The market dynamics created by EGPs are killing off Integrated Graphics Processors, not the newer GPUs.

Jon Peddie Research has released a new report on the major shift in the computer graphics marketplace, with the rise of Embedded Graphics Processors (EGPs) displacing the previous technology generation of Integrated Graphics Processors (IGPs). According to the new report, Graphic Processor Unit (GPU) technology is not threatened by this transition.

From the Abstract

A shift in the PC graphics hardware market occurred in 2011 with the full scale production of scalar X86 CPUs with integrated powerful multi-core, SIMD (Single instruction, multiple data) graphics processing elements. In so doing the ubiquitous and stalwart integrated graphics processor (IGP) is fading out of existence.

For several reasons, many people believed (and some hoped) the CPU and the GPU would never be integrated:

• GPUs are characterized by a high level of complexity, with power and cooling demands, and have dramatically different memory management needs.
• GPU design cycles are faster than those of the CPU.
• GPUs have grown in complexity compared to the CPU, exceeding the transistor count, and matching or exceeding the die size of the CPU.
• The x86 has steadily increased in complexity, power consumption, and become multi-core.

With four times the number of transistors possible in the same space as the previous manufacturing node or feature space, Moore’s law seems unstoppable. With the move to 32nm and now 28nm, the possibilities for integration of such complex and alien functionality is not only possible and feasible, but a reality.

In the report Jon Peddie, president of JPR, also notes a new trend in the impact on discrete GPUs due to the combination of devices being offered with integrated graphics (IGPs, EPGs, and HPUs—heterogeneous processor units). “It will impact the historical rise of discrete GPU sales and threatens to put the category in decline, or at least so some believe, but it’s not that simple; nothing in the PC industry is.”

The EPG/HPU will truly revolutionize the PC and associated industries. The amount of computation capability available in the size, weight, power consumption of systems equipped with EPG/HPUs coupled with the attractive prices they will carry will upset the market dynamics like never before, and maybe not since the introduction of the PC.

About the report

Companies and organizations analyzed or mentioned in the report include: AMD, Apple, Intel, Lenovo, Lucid Logic, Matrox, Nvidia, and Via Technologies.

The report contains extensive data, forecasts, analysis, and insight on the worldwide market for smartphones, tablets, e-book readers, and handheld game consoles. The report provides a range of important benefits, such as:

• For the first time in one report clear, comparative explanations of all of the integrated graphics technologies, participants, and markets
• You can see the 5-year market forecasts for all of these markets which will allow you compare shipment volumes on a year-by-year basis and without double-counting
• Benefit from 10 data-packed tables and 63 insightful charts—each with its own detailed table that can be pasted straight into your presentations and reports
• Read profiles and analysis of 21 mobile devices semiconductors suppliers plus four IP suppliers. Understand the history, current status and future prospects for all of these players
• Find out how and why stereo 3D will become one of the leading new features in phones, tablets, and game consoles
• Learn about the impact of GPU-compute on computational photography and other computation intense applications
• Understand which segments will suffer cannibalization, which won’t, and why
• Read in-depth analysis of the two key devices which are currently driving the device market; 20 pages of in-depth analysis of the tablet market and 20 more on smartphones.

How to buy the report

The Jon Peddie Research “Mobile Devices and Their Semiconductors” market study is available now in electronic editions. This report can be purchased for $3,500 for a single user license, or $5,000 for a company-wide license. All JPR Tech Watch subscribers receive a 10% discount on this report. Please call JPR at 415-435-9368 or send email to receive this discount.