Graphic cards are much more important than we give them credit for. They are crucial for a good gaming experience, cryptocurrency mining, complex renders, and so many important activities.
More and more people are starting to realize that, and subsequently, the GPU market share is going through a major change. As people are shifting to discrete GPUs, it’s time we found out why that is and what’s to follow.
Today, we’ll learn more about this shift, the notorious GPU shortage, and more. Are you ready? Let’s start with some:
Entertaining Facts (Editor’s Choice):
- The leading GPU makers are Intel, Nvidia, and AMD.
- Nvidia’s GeForce 256 is considered the world’s first GPU.
- Intel snags 62% of GPU sales, thanks to its integrated graphics.
- Nvidia’s market share is at 18%. Its graphic cards make for almost 90% of all its profits.
- The notorious GPU shortage started in late 2020 and is still ongoing.
- The shortage is also responsible for graphics cards scalping.
- Nvidia has more than 370 partnerships revolving around self-driving cars.
- The best-performing GPU right now is the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 TI.
GPU Companies
Nowadays, graphics card makers are too many to name. However, not all of them are equally successful. Here’s an introduction to the ones that are worth mentioning:
1. Nvidia, Intel, and AMD are the biggest GPU manufacturers.
(Source: Robotics & Automation News)
All of these have become household names long ago. They also happen to be the only major players there are. Here’s a twist, though—some are more successful in some areas than others.
Intel and Nvidia are certainly the world’s most powerful and eminent ones. Intel is unparalleled in terms of integrated graphics, while Nvidia makes discrete graphics cards like none other.
2. Nvidia coined the term “GPU” while making the first GeForce graphics card.
(Source: Tech Times)
The GeForce 256 isn’t the first graphics card ever to see the light of day. Actually, it was pretty far from it, but it was the first GPU (graphics processing unit). It was during its release that Nvidia coined the term “GPU.” Who could’ve thought this moment would turn out to be history-making?
3. Nvidia has more than 370 partnerships centered around self-driving.
(Source: Tech Times)
Nvidia is primarily famous for its influence on the video game industry. Though, dominating the 2022 discrete GPU market share isn’t its only strong suit.
It also holds prominent partnerships with mobility service firms, various institutes, and, yes, even car manufacturers. It even boasts impressive AI, and it’s set on using it for good.
Nvidia’s goal is to increase the efficiency and safety of self-driving cars. Thus, Tesla, Volkswagen, Toyota, and Audi are all collaborating with Nvidia.
Nvidia Market Share
Now that people are starting to realize how powerful discrete GPUs are, it’s time we shifted the focus to Nvidia completely.
4. Nearly 90% of Nvidia’s profits come from its graphic processor units.
(Source: Trefis)
How does Nvidia make money? Well, its GPUs are so popular that they make up approximately 87% of its revenue. Even though Nvidia also makes Tegra processors, its influence on discrete graphics is just too significant.
5. Nvidia also makes money thanks to other companies.
(Source: Trefis)
Nvidia’s 2022 GPU market share is bigger than ever, not just because of the increased demand. It also has to do with companies that make their own brand PCs—Sony, Toshiba, Dell, and HP all pay for Nvidia’s graphic cards.
The same goes for gaming consoles. Most notably, Nintendo Switch uses the company’s SOC module, making for yet another income stream.
6. In 2022, the Nvidia mobile GPU market share was 10.1%.
(Source: Hardware Times)
Yes, you’ve read that right. During Q3 2021, mobile GPUs of just one company made for a tenth of all GPU sales! Keep in mind that this data is from a period well after the shortage’s beginning.
The overall PC graphic card market share is still rising, and Nvidia’s mobile graphics are even more popular than its discrete ones.
7. Nvidia’s fiscal-year revenue for 2022 is $26.91 billion.
(Source: Nvidia Newsroom)
Nvidia is the company to look for when you want discrete graphics. That’s exactly the case now, and the Nvidia revenue breakdown is excellent proof.
The company’s revenue went up by an incredible 61% in 2022 alone—the 2021 number was “just” $16.68 billion. Of course, gaming remains its most profitable area. Its gaming fiscal-year revenue is $12.46 billion, which amounts to another 61% increase. Its second most profitable area is doing pretty well, too. The data center division has a revenue of $10.61 billion, up 58% from last year.
Intel vs. Nvidia vs. AMD
Nothing compares to these three—Intel, Nvidia, and AMD. As is always the case with the biggest players, they are at war for GPU market dominance.
8. The market share of Nvidia’s discrete graphics cards was 83% in Q3 2021, with the remaining 17% going to AMD.
(Source: Jon Peddie Research)
In 2020, 80% of the discrete market belonged to Nvidia. What’s even more impressive is that its influence is even more substantial now—the company’s market share grew to 83% less than a year later! That means that 8 of every 10 items sold are Nvidia’s.
Still, next-gen products may balance the scales in this everlasting Nvidia vs. AMD market share battle. We’re anxious to see as both companies are preparing them as we speak.
9. If we include other GPUs, Nvidia’s market share is at just 20%.
(Source: 3DCenter.org)
In a time when integrated graphics are reigning, Nvidia still manages to snag a fifth of the entire GPU market share toward 2022.
Sure, it faced a downfall nearing the end of 2020, but it came back in style just a year later. At that time, its market share fell to 14.6%, then remained stable at 15.2%. Q3 2021 was the breakthrough period—that’s when it soared to 20%.
10. Intel’s integrated graphics contribute 62% of all Q3 2021 GPU sales.
(Source: Hardware Times)
Nvidia’s graphic cards are great—undoubtedly the best discrete ones on the market. They may be bigger than AMD, but there’s always a bigger fish as Intel sweeps them both.
It’s so dominating that Intel GPU vs. Nvidia GPU comparisons aren’t remotely fair. What’s even more impressive is that Intel only makes integrated graphic cards. As much as 62% is, that’s actually a decrease from the start of 2021. According to 3DCenter.org, its market share was even more than 68% at the time.
11. Integrated GPUs make for nearly 76% of all GPU sales.
(Source: Hardware Times)
In other words, 13.9% of selling GPUs are AMD Radeon.
As suggested in the last GPU market share stat, these are actually falling out of favor because of discrete graphics. Still, they're hardly going anywhere, given how they make laptops much more accessible.
GPU Trends
If you’ve been out of the loop, here are some of the most significant graphic cards news in the last few years.
12. There have been GPU shortages since the end of 2020.
(Source: GamesRadar+)
The tech world managed to survive despite the gruesome COVID-19 pandemic. However, it wasn’t without consequences, as the GPU market was among those severely hit.
Graphics card companies lacked key components needed to make GPUs, so the production was halted. The same goes for the supply—it was greatly reduced because the items could not be finished on time.
That’s not to mention the rise of crypto as well. Blockchain started to become so popular at the time that, even without the pandemic, we might have faced a shortage anyway. With many strong GPUs being able to mine cryptocurrency, everybody wanted to try their luck at it.
As of April 2022, fortunately, experts predict that these shortages are soon about to end.
13. The shortages and cryptocurrency hype both caused GPU scalping.
(Source: Computer Info Bits)
Some people used these hard times to their advantage, albeit not in the most honest of ways. They employed bots to camp on websites of brands like Nvidia and AMD, snagging new GPUs as soon as they appeared.
But why? So that they could later resell them on marketplaces such as eBay or Amazon at a heavily inflated price, of course. This process is known as scalping.
14. According to PC Gamer, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 is the best gaming graphics card.
(Source: PC Gamer)
At the time of writing, RTX 3080 was at the top of 2022 GPUs. So why did we cite the GeForce RTX 3090 TI as the best one in the beginning?
The 3090 TI is a fantastic graphics card, the best on the market, but only for a specific type of user. It’s mostly aimed at creative professionals and people for whom money poses no issue. For the regular gamer or user, the relatively small increments in performance just aren’t worth the cost unless they were looking to squeeze every last bit of computing power out of their rig.
However, even if they were, the RTX 3080 would do just fine in the vast majority of scenarios. It’s the best when it comes to value for money, performance, and accessibility.
It’s so good; it can even run Crysis Remastered at 4K!
Between a massive number of CUDA cores, 10 GB of VRAM (a 12 GB version came out as well and is more popular nowadays), and many other improvements, there’s hardly anything not to like. Though, even this one is pretty pricey as well.
The discrete GPU costs a whopping $700 and requires loads of power. It’s generally advised that you pair it with a PSU capable of pulling 800W out of the wall. Still, whatever the task, you can be sure that this card will most likely be up for it.
Wrap Up
Now that the crypto and the GPU hypes are (hopefully) nearing an end, discrete graphics should become more accessible. Here’s to hoping this improves the discrete GPU market share, as they are still far behind integrated graphics.
For the longest time, the conditions for buying a new PC were subpar, but it finally seems like a change is on the horizon.
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