GPU Shipments Drop Significantly

The drop during the Q4 holiday shopping season is also indicative of the low holiday spending seen in virtually all markets. JPR reports that Q4 2008 was the first quarter that shipments had decreased compared to Q3 since 2000. Growth from Q3 2008 to Q4 2008 was down 34.98%.Most of the GPU market focus is aimed at AMD, Intel, and NVIDIA, but smaller firms are still in the market. Matrox held 0.1% of the graphics market; SiS holds 1.1% of the market and VIA holds 1% of the market for GPUs.

President of JPR, Dr. Jon Peddie said in a statement, "The fourth quarter is usually a positive quarter for the computer industry. There has obviously been some inventory problems in the quarter as sales failed to live up to the optimistic expectations of the third quarter, 2008. Vendors were bracing for a slower than usual quarter due to economic factors, but performance this quarter was surprisingly low. Put simply, the market stalled in the fourth quarter. Due to the worldwide financial market meltdown, the U.S. housing market meltdown, layoffs, and media reports, the consumer has hunkered down to wait out the storm."