No one is buying new graphics cards right now

We talk a lot about the best graphics cards, but no one is buying them right now. According to a new report from Jon Peddie Research (JPR), GPUs have experienced a dip of nearly 13% since last quarter, which already saw bad sales, and have fallen nearly 40% compared to the same time last year.

In total, JPR says that there were 6.3 million boards shipped in the last quarter. For context, in the last quarter of 2021, at the height of the GPU shortage, there were over 13 million boards shipped.

AMD Radeon RX 6500XT graphics cards stacked on top of each other. — Jacob Roach / Digital Trends

Although there aren’t a ton of graphics cards flying off the shelves, JPR’s report has some interesting insights. First, the attach rate, which is the number of graphics cards actually in PCs and is up 8% compared to last quarter. That means although GPUs are down overall, people are still using them to build PCs.

JPR notes this is likely due to people opting for last-gen options: “Shipments of new [add-in boards] were impacted by turndown in the PC market due to inflation worries and layoffs, and people buying last-gen boards as suppliers sought to reduce inventory levels.” Although it’s easy to point to disappointing GPUs like the RTX 4060 Ti as a cause of the downturn, JPR also notes that this is typically a slow time of the year for graphics cards.

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Even more interesting are the market share shifts. Compared to last year, AMD went from 24% of the market to only 12%, which is the same percentage it held last quarter. Nvidia, meanwhile, grew from 75% to 84%. That remaining 4% comes from Intel’s Arc A770 and A750.

Last year, Intel wasn’t even on the map, and since launch, it was only able to claw away 2% of the market from Nvidia and AMD. That’s doubled in the last quarter, which is a surprising sign that Intel could have a future in the world of discrete graphics cards.

Although Nvidia still holds a dominating lead, it had to reduce GPU shipments more than AMD. AMD’s cards are down just under 8%, while Nvidia decreased its shipments by over 15%. It’s important to note that a company shipping a graphics card doesn’t mean it sold. In all likelihood, Nvidia is experiencing bigger issues as it works through selling off old RTX 30-series inventory.

There aren’t many new graphics cards being sold right now, but JPR says that will change as the year continues. “[The first quarter of] 2023 saw the AIB market still facing the consequences for oversupply in the market caused by pandemic-era supply chain inconsistencies and orders. The second half of 2023 promises to be brighter,” Robert Dow, analyst at JPR, wrote.

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