GPU vendors had a bumper 2009

No bailout necessary for the video card industry.

Figures published yesterday report that 2009 was a good year for graphics vendors as growth exceeded expectations. However, upon closer inspection the data released by Jon Peddie Research show mixed fortunes for the Big Three.

Despite a recession the market experienced 14 per cent growth in 2009 with almost double that predicted for 2010. The big winner was Intel, whose revenue from swelled to over $US1.87 billion over the course of 2009. In comparison, AMD and Nvidia barely limp over $US1.3 billion combined, though Nvidia's reporting doesn't quite align with the calendar year and therefore Q3 data was used.

Even with a recession, Jon Peddie said that "pent up demand" and a feeling that the doom and gloom was lifting led to these bumper figures. He attributed the effect of Microsoft's launch of Windows 7 as having had "a little to do with it [revenue growth]" but said keenly priced netbooks also lent a hand.

Indeed it is the strength of Intel in netbooks to which Peddie's firm attributes Intel's 55.2 per cent market share. With the release of the chipmaker's Pine Trail platform the industry analyst has introduced a new category, CPU Integrated Graphics, which is dominated by Intel at present. Eventually he sees AMD becoming the main competitor to Intel. However until it gets Fusion out of the door, Intel - save for a relatively few ARM based netbooks - has the field all to itself. Peddie was unwilling to disclose what percentage of Intel's figures were from netbook sales but said they were a "major contributor" to the impressive results.

He reports that CIG will start cannibalizing the IGP market and sees CIG starting to encroach into mainstream graphics with the release of AMD's Fusion later this year. Nevertheless he doesn't see this new category as a new market but rather a "swap out" for the soon to be extinct IGP. His statement goes some way to explain why he is forecasting "just normal" growth against the PC market.

Aside from Intel's impressive growth the final quarter didn't bring festive joy for AMD or Nvidia with both losing market share standing at 19.9 per cent and 24.3 per cent, respectively. Further breaking down the figures, AMD did well in integrated notebook graphics but lost out in discrete chips in both desktop and notebook. Nvidia on the other hand gained ground in desktop discrete graphics but lost out in integrated desktop and notebook chips.

Peddie's forecast for 2010 is even brighter, predicting the largest increase in chip sales since 2002. With Slate PCs set to play a large part in 2010, CIG should be the new battleground for vendors, especially when AMD joins the party later this year, but until then Intel will continue to stay at the top of the pile.