NEW YORK – The graphics chip market decreased 5.2 percent in the third quarter, although Nvidia still managed to boost its market share during the period.
A study conducted by Jon Peddie Research stated that about 120 million graphics processing units (GPUs) shipped during the third quarter, down from the 138.5 million that shipped during the same period last year. Peddie blamed the decrease on the increasing popularity of tablets, which do not use the chips, and the continuing worldwide recession with limited computer sales.
The lone bright spot was Nvidia, which managed to increase its market share to 18.5 percent even though it shipped 22.2 million units, about a 4 million unit drop. Sequentially, Nvidia performed better, increasing shipments from 18.6 million during the second quarter of this year.
Intel continued to lead the category, shipping 71.7 million GPUs for 59.8 percent of the market. During the same period in 2011, Intel sent out 83.6 million units and controlled 60.3 percent of the market. AMD also suffered a decrease shipping 25.4 million units, down from 31.8 million in 2011, for a market share of 21.2 percent.
AMD and Intel each shipped fewer units in the third quarter compared with the previous quarter of 2012.
