Computer Graphics World

July 2009 65 Trends & Technologies n n n n he PC industry is weathering the recession rather nicely compared to other industries. People need com puters, and so when tough times hit, buy ing cycles might stretch out a bit, but they don't stop. If PC executives were worried about any thing, it was that customers would set their price thresholds a little lower, and the ini tial enthusiasm around the netbook wasn't helping any. However, the netbooks are having more effect in the low end, which has already been completely transformed by the introduction of integrated graph ics processors (IGPs). Intel has swept the market through a combination of aggres sive deal making and especially competent marketing. In that segment, the netbook is simply a continuation of the natural trend. It might not make OEMs happy that consumers are snapping up lowcost netbooks, but it can't come as much of a surprise, either. e money, however, is actually being made in the performance and enthusiast markets. And, no matter what the news says, that's where the money will con tinue to be made for the foreseeable fu ture. For professionals, a computer based on an IGP isn't an option, and a netbook is more useful as a phone than as a daily compute tool. Graphics professionals are actually mov ing up the food chain when it comes to applications. One of the hot new technol ogies for CAD is actually a hot old tech nology, and that's rendering. Multicore processors and GPUs are going to work to speed the process of visualization, includ ing lighting, shading, and effects. Digital content creators are using highend pow erful modeling and rendering programs on missioncritical projects. e idea of compromising a project by using a slug gish or lowquality graphics board simply makes less sense now than it ever did. However, no project today has an un limited budget, so making smart purchas es is even more critical in this economic situation. As a result, buyers are making valueoriented purchasing decisions. Graphics chips (GPUs and IGPs) are the leading indicators of the PC market. e GPUs go into a system before it be comes a PC and gets into the hands of the customer. In the third and fourth quarters of 2008, the channel stopped ordering GPUs and depleted inventory in anticipation of a long, drawnout worldwide recession. However, no recession—no matter how severe—results in zero sales. e world continued to turn, and the consumers continued to buy, albeit they bought less. So, by the first quarter of 2009, inven tories were depleted and the channel and OEMs had to start buying. e net result was that Intel and Nvidia came up the big winners, breaking an eightyear seasonal trend that dictated negative sales from the fourth quarter to the first quarter. is year, firstquarter shipments were up. Total Market Year to year, though, things were not so great. Shipments dropped to 74.9 million Total Market Year to year things were not so great. Shipments dropped to 74.9 units, down 21.1% from this quarter last year—yet, some fared better than others. Vendor AMD Intel Nvidia Matrox SiS VIA/S3 Total This Quarter 12.81 37.20 23.26 0.07 0.70 0.84 74.88 Market Share 17.1% 49.7% 31.1% 0.1% 0.9% 1.1% 100% Last Quarter 14.0 34.59 22.20 0.06 0.80 0.84 72.49 Market Share 19.3% 47.7% 30.6% 0.1% 1.1% 1.2% 100% Growth Qtr to Qtr -8.5% 7.5% 4.8% 8.3% -12.5% 0.0% 3.3% A Year Ago 17.67 40.52 31.02 0.11 1.65 3.91 94.88 Market Share 18.6% 42.7% 32.7% 0.1% 1.7% 4.2% 100% Growth Yr to Yr -27.5% -8.2% -25.0% -40.9% -57.6% -78.6% -21.1% Total graphics chip market for first-quarter 2009.

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