A new report from Jon Peddie Research finds that the market for professional-level PC graphics is going string, with unit sales and revenuee during the fourth quarter of 2006 up 18.3 percent and 17.9 percent, respectively, for the 2006 calendar year. During the fourth quarter, the industry sold over 802 thousands units with a combined street value of nearly $285 million. For the year, the market’s revenues topped $1 billion.
What accounts for flourishing growth in the high-end graphics segment? According to Peddie, users of professional graphic workstation systems are eager to tap into the latest in 3D rendering technologies and lightning fast cards, just like their PC gaming counterparts: and, since many of these purchases are made on corporate accounts, apparently price isn’t much of a factor: “it seems suppliers have yet to set a price too high for the market to bear.” Peddie finds that the margin-heavy upper echelon of the market accounts for a greater proportion of the industry’s overall revenue.
Jon Peddie Research also finds that, like the mainstream computing market, HP is catching up to Dell in workstation sales, with Dell holding on to about 40 percent of the workstation market, but HP gaining fast, increasing its share to 30 percent during the fourth quarter of 2006. Two years ago, Dell held a 20 point lead over HP in workstation sales; now, it’s just 10 percent.
