X-bit labs

Market of Standalone Graphics Cards Collapses in Q1 2008 – Jon Peddie Research.

Category: Video

by Anton Shilov

[ 05/20/2008 | 02:46 PM ]

CLARIFICATION: Please note that due to retroactive changes of share distribution by price band by Nvidia Corp., which may be a consequence of incorrect initial reporting of graphics processor sales and market value, some numbers within this news-story may be different compared to similar news-stories posted earlier.

After record fourth quarter and unprecedented demand for discrete graphics cards late in 2007, supplies of add-in graphics boards collapsed in Q1 2008, data released by Jon Peddie Research reveal. Perhaps, more importantly, average selling price per graphics card also dropped significantly to below $150 level.

According to numbers released by JPR, 94.88 million graphics adapters were shipped in Q1 2008, of which 62.3 million graphics adapters were for desktops and approximately 32.6 million graphics solutions for mobile systems. 24.4 million of graphics adapters for desktops were standalone add-in cards (25.71% of all graphics adapters or 39.16% of desktop graphics cores), which sales dropped by 8% quarter-over-quarter, but grew 18.1% year-over-year.

“When considering the cyclical nature of the business, a soft first quarter shouldn’t surprise. Especially in a market where the consumer is a major driving force, Q1 often exhibits some ‘holiday hangover’ from Q4. Add in the normal, periodic jostling of vendors’ product lines, and while Q1 2008 results might at first appear disappointing, they were not out of line with expectations,” said Jon Peddie, the head of Jon Peddie Research, in a statement.

But while it was predictable that the market of graphics adapters in general and the market of standalone add-in graphics boards for desktops in particular would decrease in Q1 2008, the drops appeared to be pretty dramatic. Revenues got 20.8% lower sequentially and grew just about 0.2% annually. Moreover, average selling price of a graphics card collapsed to $145.6 from $169.28 in the previous quarter.

Among developers of graphics processing units (GPUs), ATI, graphics product group of Advanced Micro Devices, and Nvidia Corp. neither gained nor lost position in the market, maintaining the previous quarter’s 35% and 65% shares, respectively.