The desktop GPU market continued its downward slide in Q1 2023

[Daniel Sims]

The big picture: Recent PC hardware market reports have been uniformly pessimistic for the first quarter of the year as the industry continues its post-pandemic hangover, and discrete desktop GPUs are no exception. However, the sector could follow other areas into a slow recovery, starting in the second half of 2023.

According to Jon Peddie Research, unit shipments of new add-in-boards (AIB) – essentially dedicated desktop graphics cards – declined 12.6 percent from the previous quarter and 38.2 percent compared to Q1 2022. Any recovery later in the year may depend on recently-released mainstream GPUs from AMD and Nvidia.

Team Green suffered the largest quarter-on-quarter slide, with a 15.2 percent drop in shipments. Meanwhile, AMD suffered a 7.5 percent decrease.

The numbers echo recent reports from other PC sectors indicating consumers are no longer rushing to upgrade their hardware like in 2021. Analysts also attribute the downturn to layoffs and anxiety over inflation, which are related to broader fears of an approaching recession. Furthermore, despite last year's new releases from the RTX 40 and RX 7000 series, many customers may have decided that last-generation GPUs are good enough.

Despite the sales slump, the market share between the three GPU competitors changed little from the preceding quarter. Team Red maintained its 12 percent hold on the discrete desktop graphics sector, while Intel slightly cut into Nvidia's share. However, the new player still only has a four percent toehold in the market, while Team Green retains a dominant 84 percent. The year-over-year shift is more dramatic, with AMD having lost half its market share.

With inventories dropping, Dr. Jon Peddie predicts new shipments to start picking up in Q3, with the second quarter usually being a slower period. However, the market response to the latest products has yet to fully play out.

Nvidia and AMD launched their latest mid-range graphics cards last month to a generally lukewarm reception from critics. Although Team Green's xx60-tier GPUs are usually its most popular, the new GeForce RTX 4060 and 4060 Ti are currently facing backlash for only offering 8GB of VRAM for $400. Although the red team's competing RX 7600 is significantly cheaper at $270, its performance is still disappointing compared to its predecessors.

Looking further ahead, other analysts expect the fourth quarter of this year to show an improvement for all PC hardware, leading to market growth throughout 2024. PC gaming hardware should see a recovery through 2025.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/98987-desktop-gpu-market-continued-downward-slide-q1-2023.html

 

[dipankar]

Desktop PC market is largely dominated by gaming enthusiasts. But for past couple of years, the way components price are hiked as compared to global inflation. More number of people are unable to afford a gaming pc. Graphics Card & Motherboard components are the most largest contributor of price hike in the basket of desktop pc. I am sure that these companies will be able to achieve revenue growth in future but at the expense of people who are cut out of gaming market due to excessive inflated price. And also volume sales will not grow same as revenue growth. These companies of components like Graphics Card & Motherboards have become too much greedy for past couple of years. I doubt this trend will stop in future also. More & more number of people will be cut out of desktop gaming pc market due to exaggerate price hike trend which will continue in future also.

 

[Nobina]

recovery to start in Q3, leading to growth in 2024 and 2025

Nvidia and AMD: Not if we have something to say about it!

 

[wiyosaya]

Yeah! Let's have a pity party for the GPU Manufacturers - even though they brought this on themselves.

 

[p51d007]

Just replaced my 7 year old i5 home pc a few weeks ago with a gaming rig. (I don't play games, but it's GREAT for photoshop). Raise the price all you want. I'm good.

 

[KIAg1978]

I don't understand why bother anymore in upgrading my hardaware, as stated before by me and countless other people there is no value in pc hardware anymore ,even schoolkids have realised that companies are in there virtual world ,prices are very high with n added value especially for gamers ,higher fps argument is dead a long time now ,nobody cares for 10 or 15 more fps nobody or at least the majority of people don't need 4k gaming the majority don't have the money or even more practical things like space in their rooms to accommodate large tv screens or whatever, bigger ìs not better and surly paying more doesn't make something better ,probably they just don't care anymore because they have AI ,well that market will bring money ,maybe more than gamers ,I wonder a company that bought AI chip when will decide to make a hardware upgrade again ,companies have pushed things to move faster inventory like every 2 years when probably most of us common people upgrade every 4 or 5 years and with prices on the roof for sure I will wait more ,a big bubble like AI will blow in their faces as Overpriced hardware is doing now ,maybe not all of us are that stupid as Gpu companies think !!! Just a thought over the top of my brain and the depth of my pocket !!

 

[punctualturn]

Well, Nvidia wont cut prices because their blind worshipers wont stop buying them, specially the 4090, which is shoved down our throats on a daily basis by all the media outlets.

But AMD needs to cut prices to make their offerings stand out for those blind nvidia worshipers, assuming they want more sales which honestly, looks like they dont.

 

[Gaara]

That what they say, but I don't see the price down.

 

[mcnabney]

PC gaming has gone boutique. Nvidia learned how much could be extracted from gamers during the Etherium boom and have decided to price their cards at scalper pricing. They aren't going to budge.
The market has the chance to slap them down but instead we kept buying. Nvidia is happy to sell half the cards if the margins are triple.
So now the decision is yours. Do you stay in the PC gaming market and just accept the price gouging (this is only GPUs, storage and memory is down and CPUs are only slightly up) or do you switch to a console. Currently you need a $1500 PC to match the performance of a $500 console. We've all seen how the quality has been for PC ports ...

 

[Nobina]

PC gaming has gone boutique. Nvidia learned how much could be extracted from gamers during the Etherium boom and have decided to price their cards at scalper pricing. They aren't going to budge.
The market has the chance to slap them down but instead we kept buying. Nvidia is happy to sell half the cards if the margins are triple.
So now the decision is yours. Do you stay in the PC gaming market and just accept the price gouging (this is only GPUs, storage and memory is down and CPUs are only slightly up) or do you switch to a console. Currently you need a $1500 PC to match the performance of a $500 console. We've all seen how the quality has been for PC ports ...

It's not just Nvidia, games are now $70 basic edition, some franchises are released every year with minimal improvements and mtx are a norm.

Everyone and their mom has figured out they can milk more money from gamers because they are literally cattle.

 

[takaozo]

Mwahahaha...they really believe that GPU sales will recover that soon?

 

[antiproduct]

I guess they're starting to learn how the supply/demand curve works. Cool.

 

[MaestroIT]

I am going to get a new GPU soon, as the summer vacation is approaching and I have time to play new games, I know prices are high, but I need a GPU

 

[Xcile92]

Im quite slow with my pockets for gpu hardware. But the generations of GPUs shot up really fast unlike the old days. They keep rushing out a new xxxx series every year. And the pcigen⁴ hasnt really been available for long and they have already moved to pcie5x16. Been stuck with pci2 for like 5 years. Finally had time to upgrade to a pcie3x16 mb and already the pcie4 cards are out of engineering by the manufacturers. Things just move way too fast. Also the cost for gen4 to game at the highest graphics at a resolution of 1080p for me are kinda expensive. Im just lucky to find a cheap phantom rx5500xt 8gboc brand new for like 107gbp. Reasonable upgrade from my rx590 that strugles to play many games past dx11. Especially when using fx8350. But my new mb is b450, with 5700x, and the new 5500xt for improved dx12 support. It aint much today but im not interested in 4k. I do a lot of heavy processes and my fx cant keep up anymore and there is many games I cant run on rx590 and fx. But yeah I would have gotten a new 12gb rtx 2060 that released last year but it was just too expensive and hardly ever in stock when im window shopping. Would have been nice to try some of that ray tracing at 1080p for my first time. But amd always wins my bank over. But even so the 6500xt is still kinda steep for a 8gb. I just hope gta6 counts my gpu for minimum requirements whenever its eventually released. But until the gpu market calms down. I may upgrade to a 6500 or higher, I know I wont get native use due to pcie3 but at least I'll have a tad better performance for games like gta6 in the future over my rx5500xt

 

[poshflamingos]

Currently you need a $1500 PC to match the performance of a $500 console.

LMAO what? That is one of the most absurd and hilarious things I've ever read on this website.
The consoles have CPUs comparable to a Ryzen 3600, and GPUs comparable to a RTX 3060 or RX 6600 XT (as per Digital Foundry tests, which show they perform about the same as a 2070 Super). Meanwhile, right now on PCPartPicker you can get a Ryzen 5600 + RX 6700 XT build for $700 + peripherals of your choice (I.e. sub-$800 including peripherals).
Where did you get this "$1500 PC to match consoles" idea from?

 

[RandomWAN]

PC gaming has gone boutique. Nvidia learned how much could be extracted from gamers during the Etherium boom and have decided to price their cards at scalper pricing. They aren't going to budge.
The market has the chance to slap them down but instead we kept buying. Nvidia is happy to sell half the cards if the margins are triple.
So now the decision is yours. Do you stay in the PC gaming market and just accept the price gouging (this is only GPUs, storage and memory is down and CPUs are only slightly up) or do you switch to a console. Currently you need a $1500 PC to match the performance of a $500 console. We've all seen how the quality has been for PC ports ...

I won't ever switch to console, but I'll play indie games and other titles that don't need the latest and greatest to run at reasonable framerates (most AAA titles are just chasing fads and not worth the money). I'm not chasing 4K and I got a 3080 for MSRP, which should hold me over for ~7 years (upgraded from a 1080Ti), so I'll see what prices are doing then.

 

[mcnabney]

LMAO what? That is one of the most absurd and hilarious things I've ever read on this website.
The consoles have CPUs comparable to a Ryzen 3600, and GPUs comparable to a RTX 3060 or RX 6600 XT (as per Digital Foundry tests, which show they perform about the same as a 2070 Super). Meanwhile, right now on PCPartPicker you can get a Ryzen 5600 + RX 6700 XT build for $700 + peripherals of your choice (I.e. sub-$800 including peripherals).
Where did you get this "$1500 PC to match consoles" idea from?

First, games are developed FOR consoles with PC ports being an afterthought. Second, they don't have the Windows overhead and inefficiency of DirectX to cripple performance.
The $1500 price is about what you will pay for a PC built around a 4070ti which is the amount of GPU required to play modern AAA games at higher resolutions, detail levels, and frame rates than the current consoles.

 

[Mr Majestyk]

Zero effs given. Nvidia and AMD have decided to crap in their own nests and screw over normal users. They deserve all our contempt. This current gen of offerings have been deplorable performance to value stakes. They have given a tier lower card for a tier higher price.

I predict given AMD's pathetic market share and the fact they have shown ZERO desire to compete against Nvidfia, they will ultimately abandon PC discrete gpu's altogether. I would not even expect an RDNA5 as a given. It's peanuts revenue for them at huge development costs. Little return for their investments in their eyes. AMD either has to be far more aggressive in gaining market share or just go away. Nvidia could care less, desktop gpu is pocket change, they are making the huge dollars in HPC and AI. But with 80%+ market share they'll continue to produce gpu's but they'll continue to raise prices. There's not a snowball's chance in hell Blackwell will be cheaper than Lovelace.

I won't be upgrading my 6800XT or 2080 Super for a long time unless we see large price cuts.

 

[Dr Roboto]

If you haven't noticed, this downturn had zero effect on their stock prices. Stock holders are happy, GPU manufactures are happy. No incentive to reduce price. Nvidia is an AI company now. Computer graphics cards are now the secondary business. We will have to wait and see how the AI boom works out. If that weakens, then we have a chance. I wouldn't hold my breath.

Personally, I just bought a used 3070 Ti for $350. That was the only way I was going to be able to afford a "newer" GPU.

 

[poshflamingos]

First, games are developed FOR consoles with PC ports being an afterthought. Second, they don't have the Windows overhead and inefficiency of DirectX to cripple performance.
The $1500 price is about what you will pay for a PC built around a 4070ti which is the amount of GPU required to play modern AAA games at higher resolutions, detail levels, and frame rates than the current consoles.

You have no clue whatsoever what you're talking about. Like I said, Digital Foundry has done plenty of tests on games running on consoles vs PC, and their tests have shown that consoles perform about the same as a RTX 2070 Super on average (on the best case scenario, they match a RTX 2080 in AC Valhalla and Death Strading, and on the worst case scenario they match a 2060 Super in Watch Dogs Legion and Forza Horizon 5, but most of the tests they're in 2070/2070 Super ballpark).

And you can't claim this "console optimization" and "Windows overhead" nonsense when the tests are literally doen by running actual released games in real time in the actual hardware with a framerate counter on the screen. They're running the actual games in real time, any "optimization" or "overhead" that went into those games is already accounted for in these measurements. Ryzen 3600 + RTX 2070 Super is how consoles perform in the real world with all "optimization" already accounted for, because that's what you observe when running the games side-by-side in real time.

Seriously, claiming you need a $800 4070 Ti to match the performance of consoles is without a shadow of a doubt the most ridiculous thing I have ever read on this website.

 

[mcnabney]

You have no clue whatsoever what you're talking about. Like I said, Digital Foundry has done plenty of tests on games running on consoles vs PC, and their tests have shown that consoles perform about the same as a RTX 2070 Super on average (on the best case scenario, they match a RTX 2080 in AC Valhalla and Death Strading, and on the worst case scenario they match a 2060 Super in Watch Dogs Legion and Forza Horizon 5, but most of the tests they're in 2070/2070 Super ballpark).

And you can't claim this "console optimization" and "Windows overhead" nonsense when the tests are literally doen by running actual released games in real time in the actual hardware with a framerate counter on the screen. They're running the actual games in real time, any "optimization" or "overhead" that went into those games is already accounted for in these measurements. Ryzen 3600 + RTX 2070 Super is how consoles perform in the real world with all "optimization" already accounted for, because that's what you observe when running the games side-by-side in real time.

Seriously, claiming you need a $800 4070 Ti to match the performance of consoles is without a shadow of a doubt the most ridiculous thing I have ever read on this website.

Stop lying.

On raw hardware alone the consoles are in line with AMD 6000 / Nvidia 3000 series. They also benefit from games being developed for that specific hardware.

Unlike you I have something to support my statements
https://www.videogamer.com/tech/gpu/what-is-the-equivalent-of-the-ps5/
https://www.pcguide.com/gpu/what-gp... GPU is equivalent,Radeon RX 6000 series GPUs.

Comparing them to a 2070super is nonsense. The consoles are clocked 50% higher with slightly more advanced tech in the GPU. Oh, and double the RAM. It turns out that is important.

The best way to make my point is a real-world comparison. I'll use data for Last of Us part 1 on PS5 and PC. The PS5 has the same customizability for quality as PCs. If you want 4K at ultra quality you can only get a bit over 40fps on the console. The PC can get a bit over 60fps - but it requires a top CPU and a 4090 to do it. A 2080 can't even play it at 1080p.

 

[poshflamingos]

Stop lying.

I'm relaying to you the tests done by Digital Foundry, which you can see on their youtube channel. How about you email them and tell them you think they're lying? I'm sure they'll be very receptive to teh criticisms of a random nobody who has no idea what he's talking about.

On raw hardware alone the consoles are in line with AMD 6000 / Nvidia 3000 series. They also benefit from games being developed for that specific hardware.

Unlike you I have something to support my statements
https://www.videogamer.com/tech/gpu/what-is-the-equivalent-of-the-ps5/
https://www.pcguide.com/gpu/what-gp... GPU is equivalent,Radeon RX 6000 series GPUs.

The second link you provided is spot on, it says the consoles are similar to a RX 5700 XT or a RTX 3060. That is precisely right. The RTX 3060 is slightly faster than the RTX 2070 and slightly slower than the 2070 Super, which is exactly the ballpark the consoles are at on the Digital Foundry tests.

Also, none of those articles support your hilariously ridiculous claim that you need a $800 4070 Ti to match the consoles. The author of the first one non-confidently writes "I think you need a RTX 3070" (which is wrong, the 3070 is around 30% faster than the console GPUs), and the second one says RX 5700 XT or RTX 3060 (which is exactly right). Neither of them are even remotely close to the 4070 Ti in their suggestions. So the question remains, where did you get the absurd idea you need a 4070 Ti to match the consoles? It can't be from those articles, because they don't mention the 4070 Ti at all.

Comparing them to a 2070super is nonsense. The consoles are clocked 50% higher with slightly more advanced tech in the GPU. Oh, and double the RAM. It turns out that is important.

Clock speeds do not define how fast a GPU is, especially when comparing two different architectures. For example, the RX 6600 XT is clocked 53% higher than the 2070 Super (2.6 GHz vs 1.7 GHz), but they're equal in performance. Also, your math is nonsense, the PS5 GPU runs at 2.2 GHz (30% higher than the 2070 Super) and the Xbox GPU runs at 1.8 GHz (6% higher than the 2070 Super), no idea where you got "50% higher" from.

And the consoles do not have "double the RAM". They have 16 GB of SHARED memory. That memory is for both the CPU and the GPU, it's not all VRAM for the GPU.

All of this nonsense is further evidence of how you have no clue what you're talking about.

The best way to make my point is a real-world comparison. I'll use data for Last of Us part 1

LMAO

"I'll cherry pick the data for only this one specific game that launched completely broken on PC, and ignore every single one of the other dozens upon dozens of tests Eurogamer/Digital Foundry have done before."

That's why I pointed you to the whole Digitial Foundry channel instead of one specific video. If we're being intellectually dishonest and cherry picking the worst possible scenario alone to support our point, then I'd link you to the Watch Dogs Legion video that shows the PS5 performs the same as a 2060 Super, and declare that's how the PS5 performs in every game.