sales figures 3D-chips Q4 2008

Market investigator Jon Peddie Research (JPR) publishes the quarterly sales figures of 3D-chips.  Each quarter, Hardware.Info writes about the statistics, allowing for a decent comparison with older sales figures. This time, it's the turn of 2008's fourth quarter of 3D-chip sales:

Manufacturer	Quantity 3D-chips Q3 2008	Quantity 3D-chips Q4 2008	Growth in Q4 2008
Intel	54.95	34.59	-37.10%
nVidia	30.93	22.20	-28.20%
AMD	22.90	14.00	-38.90%
VIA	1.02	0.70	-31.50%
Other	1.45	0.86	-40.35%
Total	111.26	72.35	-34.98%

The sales of Q4 2008 (amounts x one million)

While the third quarter of 2008 sold a record amount of 3D-chips, we've seen a significant decline in the last one. The contrast between Q3 and Q4 of last year is the least clear at nVidia's, but even there a decrease of 28.20% was booked. Intel and AMD display respective decreases of 37.10% and 38.90%. The market as a whole has shrunken down by almost 35%.

When compared to the sales figures of 2007's fourth quarter, slightly different results can be seen. Compared to Q4 2007, market leader Intel sold 20.9% less 3D-chips. AMD books a decline of 23.8% in this comparison. With 34.3%, nVidia shows the biggest decreases in sales. 

Manufacturer	Market share Q3 2008	Market share Q4 2008	Growth in Q4 2008
Intel	49.40%	47.80%	-3.24%
nVidia	27.80%	30.70%	10.43%
AMD	20.60%	19.30%	-6.30%
VIA	0.90%	1.00%	11.11%
Other	1.30%	1.20%	-7.69%
Total	100%	100%

The market share division Q4 2008

The diagram above shows that nVidia has gained territory, at the cost of Intel and AMD. Intel is still the market leader with 47.80% of the entire sales. nVidia has a firm grip on its second-in-command, totaling 30.70%. As usual, AMD seems to be stuck around the 20% mark.

Of the total amount of sold 3D-chips (72.35 million), 37.45 million were constructed for use in desktop systems, the remaining 34.89 million were made for notebooks. nVidia has a market share of 37.9% in the desktop segment. AMD increased its numbers from 20.3% to 21.4%. Intel loses some ground but stays market leader in this segment as well, with about 40% of the total sales. In the field of mobile 3D-chips, AMD loses 3.8% (from 20.9% to 17.1%). Intel also rules here with an overwhelming 59.2%. With the remaining 22.9%, nVidia comes in second place.

It's easy to conclude that the 3D-chip market has suffered from a heavy blow during the last quarter of 2008. Remarkably enough, the figures show no significant differences between the individual market players. We look forward to see what Q1 of 2009 will bring us.