Notebooks drive Q2 GPU growth
Amid the persistent uncertainty gripping the broader PC market, a surprising surge in graphics processing unit (GPU) shipments was reported in the second quarter, painting a picture of specialized demand driving overall growth.
New data from Jon Peddie Research indicates that global GPU shipments climbed 10.4% quarter-over-quarter and 1.1% year-over-year in Q2, totaling 75.5 million units. This increase is a fascinating story of where the demand is actually landing in the current landscape.
The story of this growth is heavily weighted toward mobile computing. The notebook graphics segment was the undisputed engine of this expansion, posting an impressive 16.8% increase compared to the previous quarter. This trend highlights that the portable gaming and creative workstation market remains a powerful and hungry segment for high-performance graphics.
In contrast, the desktop graphics market experienced a slight pullback, declining by 4% over the same period, reflecting the sustained dominance of notebooks in overall GPU volume. This trend confirms that portable systems continue to set the pace for hardware consumption.
Looking at the competitive landscape among the major vendors, Intel maintained its commanding position with 56% market share, largely fueled by the widespread use of integrated GPUs across its processor lineup. While Intel held the lead, the competitive environment saw shifts: AMD gained 0.6% over the quarter, and Nvidia registered a modest increase of 0.46%.
The performance of Central Processing Units (CPUs) also demonstrated healthy expansion. Overall CPU shipments rose by 10.10% quarterly. This growth was reflected in the client side, with AMD’s client CPU shipments jumping 12.74% compared to the prior quarter, and Intel’s shipments rising by 8.99%.
Further underscoring the portable focus, notebooks dominated the CPU distribution, accounting for a substantial 78% of all client CPU shipments, leaving the desktop market with 22% of the volume.
Despite the general market jitters, discrete GPU shipments still demonstrated resilience, increasing by 12.2%. This indicates that while component pricing remains volatile due to memory market fluctuations, the demand for powerful graphics remains strong across the board.
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