Intel, Nvidia were Q4's graphics chip winners

Intel and Nvidia both grew their share of the graphics chip market during Q4 2004, but their gain came not from their chief rival, ATI, so much as the smaller players in the field, market watcher Jon Peddie Research (JPR) said today.

Even those companies who lost market share during the quarter could take some comfort from the fact that shipments rose in the period, up 1.5 per cent sequentially and 3.3 per cent on Q4 2003.

Almost 23 per cent of the 64.1m graphics chips shipped in the quarter were mobile parts - the highest percentage the segment has taken yet, JPR said. Some 14.7m mobile chips shipped, up 16.3 per cent in Q3 and 21.3 per cent over Q4 2003. Shipments of integrated parts grew 21.5 per cent sequentially and 32.3 per cent year on year, compared to 10.5 per cent and 10.2 per cent, respectively, for discrete parts.

ATI continued to control the mobile graphics chip market during Q4, but its share fell seven percentage points sequentially, to 42.9 per cent, as Intel's integrated products took a larger chunk of the market. Intel quit the quarter with 71.8 per cent of the integrated segment, up from 64.7 per cent the previous quarter. Nvidia's shipments of discrete parts rose 25 per cent, taking its share to 25.7 per cent., from Q3's 22.6 per cent.

ATI also saw is lead in the desktop discrete segment erode during the quarter, despite a 5.7 per cent sequential increase in shipments. It owns 51.9 per cent of the market, down from 55.1 per cent in Q3. Nvidia's share went up over the same timeframe, from 43.2 per cent to 46.7 per cent, JPR calculated, thanks to a 21.6 per cent increase in shipments.

Overall, the desktop discrete segment grew 12.3 per cent sequentially, while shipments of integrated products were down 11 per cent. With the latter segment larger than the former, the full desktop chip market shrank 2.2 per cent.

Nvidia's gains helped the company grow its share of graphics chip market to 18.6 per cent, from 15.9 per cent in Q3. Arch-rival ATI also saw is share rise, albeit more modestly, from 27.4 per cent to 27.6 per cent. Its shipments rose 2.3 per cent. Intel experienced decent growth too: a 6.2 per cent sequential increase in shipments took its share from 38.5. per cent to 40.2 per cent, keeping it well ahead of the others.

Most other companies' shares fell by small amounts, but VIA's S3 business fared least successfully, losing 3.4 percentage points between Q3 and Q4, leaving it with a 7.3 per cent share of the market.

Full figures and forecasts will be available in Jon Peddie's Market Watch, Q4'04 next month from www.jonpeddie.com on subscription. ®

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