AMD market share expected to hit new low in current quarter

[HEXUS]

Taiwanese industry sources say the above statement is true for both GPUs and CPUs.

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[DeLaVeGaGR]

The main reason for the low sales is that many people just like my self are waiting for the new CPUs and GPUs from AMD,i see no point upgrading my R9 290 to a 390 series.

[shaithis]

Not surprising with the wait to the end of the year for Zen!

The CPU market is completely stagnant at the moment, even for those with upgradeitus.

We are waiting to see the next iteration of GPUs and to see the performance demands of VR, plus graphics cards seem to be at an all-time high in terms of price. Those not waiting for VR have mostly seen performance requirements plateau as the knock-on effect from the next-gen consoles has stabilised.

When I look at hardware now, I can only think "meh" and I am running IVB cpus and 700-series GPUs still.

[cheesemp]

I've put off buying a 380 waiting for the next gen. You'd need to be desperate to buy one now really. I'm sure things will pick up once the 400 series are out....

(It worries me how bad intel and nvidia will be if they become the sole supplies for PCs.)

[malfunction]

(It worries me how bad intel and nvidia will be if they become the sole supplies for PCs.)

It's almost at the stage where I feel I should go out and buy something AMD as a charitable donation - though I doubt they make much money from a low end Kabini or Kaveri chip and I'm not sure I'm feeling that generous.

[scaryjim]

... graphics cards seem to be at an all-time high in terms of price. ...

I suspect in dollar terms they're still comparable, but the pound is currently in the tank - it's at a seven-year low. The kicker is that if you bought between 18 months and 2 1/2 years ago - a not unreasonable upgrade cycle for a gaming enthusiast - dollar-price-equivalent parts will cost 15% - 20% more in the UK. That's going to leave you with a reasonable chance of your new card, at the same price as your old card, having very similar performance: not what you're looking for in an upgrade.

That said, I think the real market share problem for AMD is not with its higher end cards but with the key targets in the lower end of the market. The 750 & 750 Ti remain the best bus-powered cards available, and the GTX 950 is the best value option for 1080p gaming. AMD simply don't have current products to answer those two key volume-selling niches.

[jag272]

Ye this isn't really too surprising honestly, were getting to the point where a lot of the big releases of this year are starting to come to fruition.

I'm looking at upgrading my PC a bit for example, but while I could buy a 970/390 now, it seems like more so than usual this year is going to become a significant leap in GPU performance with DX12 and HBM as well as 14NM. Unless my 760 conks out which it certainly shouldn't, it seems more logical to wait for Polaris and Pascal.

And to an extent the same applies to CPUs, Intel don't really have much coming around this year I don't believe, but with AMD Zen around the corner and a new chipset with it, theres little reason to upgrade now until that comes out if you're going AMD.

It's the usual case of only upgrade when you need to I think, but with the added discouragement of theres something unusually big around the corner, bigger than usual, which is just making upgrading now that bit less likely than it would have been this time last year.

Rumour has it Pascal GPUs have been seen shipping to testing facilities, so it certainly seems like we might have a very big summer this year or something.

[Jowsey]

It's almost at the stage where I feel I should go out and but something AMD as a charitable donation - though I doubt they make much money from a low end Kabini or Kaveri chip and I'm not sure I'm feeling that generous.

Good look trying to put that on a tax return to claim the Gift Aid as well! You'll sharp get a return letter!

[DanceswithUnix]

I've put off buying a 380 waiting for the next gen. You'd need to be desperate to buy one now really. I'm sure things will pick up once the 400 series are out....

(It worries me how bad intel and nvidia will be if they become the sole supplies for PCs.)

I was desperate (my son's GTX460 died) so I did buy a 380.

I tell myself that while the top end might get much better, I'm not convinced the £150 I spent will get me a massively better 480 card than the 380 is.

As for Intel and Nvidia, I think they are too busy slinging mud at each other to worry about AMD.

[Percy1983]

I will say me 3570k is starting to become due for an upgrade and I am waiting for Zen before doing it,this isn't a certain sale for AMD but if they have a processor for less than £200 which beats intel at the same price point they have me, I may go up the scale depending on performance and my demands are getting higher (more than gaming).

As for Polaris/Pascal, I think my crossfire 290xs should hold up well for a while so may not bother with either unless something really special happens.

[Corky34]

The main reason for the low sales is that many people just like my self are waiting for the new CPUs and GPUs from AMD,i see no point upgrading my R9 290 to a 390 series.

That's understand but what isn't is why they're losing market share, for that to happen people must be either swapping to the other side or chucking out their old stuff and not replacing it.

[scaryjim]

... isn't is why they're losing market share, for that to happen people must be either swapping to the other side or chucking out their old stuff and not replacing it.

A lot depends on what market they're measuring and at what point they're measuring share: and there are NO details in this article or the linked one to give any indication to that. If they use "market share" to mean "share of the market in that quarter" then people don't need to be replacing or binning AMD kit, they just need to not be buying new AMD kit.

In fact share of shipments is by far the easiest and most reliable measure of any market, whilst total installed user base is essentially impossible to measure with any accuracy. Combine that with the complete lack of evidence presented by either the hexus article or its source...

[[jF]]

AMD, on the edge....

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

What sources are these? Last quarter AMD saw better sales. Sounds like a slow news day clickbait article.
http://jonpeddie.com/publications/market_watch

[mers]

I'm not a "Fan Boy " to any brand but have extensively supported AMD since 386 days building for myself and countless others mostly governed by " Bang for Buck" value. Their early days were supported by American Defence contracts. Just to say that even Intel fanboys should not gloat over this , if AMD ever went under then Intel would have the monopoly and probably price their chips out of our reach. I'm still running a Phenom 11 X4 965 Be with a Radeon 5770 , this does everything I need standing on it's head , I'm not a gamer and strikes me I see no benefit to upgrade at all.I do get tempted sometimes, ( New Toy syndrome. Lol. ) Performance wise for me, I'm doing OK since adding an SSD. As said I don't game ( or rarely , kiddie moment , I'm an oldie)so DX12 is of no concern and no way is that Win10 piece of garbage going on any of my PC's , they stay at Win7 or go Linux at some point. So SkyFlake and future chips are a no , no. I just sincerely hope AMD can pull themselves up , we need them there , all of us.

[maxp779]

Well they have garbage Linux drivers so im stuck on windows if I want to play games and my current R9 280X sounds like a jet engine sometimes. Thats probably more Sapphires fault than AMD's but still... it does leave a sour taste.

That said im surprised how bad its gotten for AMD! They have usually got the best price/performance ratio. Ive been using ATI/AMD cards since 2004 with a 9800PRO/X1900XT/HD5850/R9 280X and they've all been great performance wise. Apart from the issues with my 280X they put out pretty good cards mostly.