Graphics card sales hit record low in 2022

Unit sales of discrete graphics cards for desktop computers hit a record low in 2022, according to data released this week by Jon Peddie Research. Although add-on board (AIB) shipments rebounded in the fourth quarter, driven by the launch of AMD's Radeon RX 7900 series and Nvidia's GeForce RTX 4080 and GeForce RTX 4090 products, graphics card sales remained unusually weak for the year.

According to JPR data, the industry shipped 7.3 million discrete graphics cards for desktop PCs in the fourth quarter of 2022, up slightly from about 6.81 million in the third quarter of 2022, but down from 13.19 million in the fourth quarter of 2021. dropped by 27.4%. Analysts attribute the growth in AIB unit sales to the attractive pricing of previous generation graphics cards, as well as the launch of new graphics cards.

"AIB shipments in the fourth quarter of 2022 are unique because some previous-generation product inventory levels are declining while new products are being introduced, coupled with excess inventory and channel backlog," said Dr. Jon Peddie, president of JPR. “Despite high prices, some products like Nvidia’s RTX 4090 performed exceptionally well, so we think nearly everything we know about the economy and market behavior appears to have been flipped on its head in the fourth quarter.

Nvidia maintained its lead with 13 million desktop GPUs and 84% market share. In addition, analysts from JPR mentioned that Nvidia's GeForce RTX 4090 product had very impressive sales, which is priced at $1,599. AMD's market share in the fourth quarter of 2022 increased slightly to 11% from 10% in the previous quarter, but it was a significant drop compared to the fourth quarter of 2021, as the company only shipped about 800,000 discrete desktop graphics cards, which was one of its worst quarterly performances ever.

Intel controls about 5% of the market, according to Jon Peddie Research.

"We are seeing a modest return to growth in the fourth quarter of 2022 due to stabilization of AIB prices and the successful launch of next-generation GPUs from AMD and Nvidia," said JPR analyst C. Robert Dow. "The high-end RTX 4090, priced at launch At $1,599, it was particularly successful because retailers were unable to keep the part in stock. The success of these high-end AIBs reflects that first adopters are adapting to the higher prices."

According to data from Jon Peddie Research, AMD, Intel and Nvidia sold approximately 37.86 million graphics processors for desktop AIBs throughout 2022, a sharp decrease from approximately 49.15 million units in 2021. In fact, 37.86 million units is the all-time low for discrete graphics desktop graphics cards. To add some background information, according to JPR data, sales of discrete graphics cards for desktop PCs peaked at 116 million units in 1998.

Nvidia sold 30.34 million desktop discrete graphics processors in 2022, maintaining fairly strong unit shipments and taking market share from AMD. In fact, the company's desktop GPU unit sales in 2022 exceeded its pre-pandemic 2019 shipments, but 2022 is not a particularly good year from a unit shipment perspective.

In comparison, AMD Radeon add-on board sales fell to 6.76 million units, a record low. The company shipped about 10 million discrete GPUs for desktop graphics cards each year between 2019 and 2021, but 2022 appears to be an especially bad year for AMD's AIB unit shipments. It's difficult to say the specific reason for this performance of AMD's graphics units, but it's likely that the company's focus on other products is a factor.

According to JPR, unit sales of desktop discrete graphics cards have plummeted significantly in 2022, so the overall market has declined by $24.14 billion over the past four quarters. This number puts the average selling price (ASP) of the graphics card at $637. By comparison, the desktop AIB market is worth $51.8 billion in 2021, with an average graphics card selling price of $1,056. Still, JPR expects the AIB market to grow 7% over the next three years.

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