AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT Anniversary Edition (Image credit: Shutterstock)

The last quarter of 2019 saw a 3.4% increase in GPU shipments, according to a report by Jon Pedie Research (JPR) this week. The analyst attributed most of this growth to AMD, which saw quarter-to-quarter shipments grow by a massive 22.6%. Nvidia, on the other hand, saw shipments shrink by 1.9%.

Despite this, Intel still maintained dominance in Q4 2019. It represented 63% of market share compared to AMD's meager 19% and Nvidia’s 18%.

(Image credit: Jon Peddie Research)

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Compared to the previous quarter, the shipments of PCs with discrete GPUs installed remained roughly the same with a decrease of only 0.19%, JPR said. In total, 31.9% of computers shipped with a discrete graphics card.

The overall PC market also grew by 1.99% from Q3 to Q4. When measured year-to-year it grew by 3.54%, with total graphics card shipments in Q4 totaling 93 million.

Coronavirus Impact on GPU Market

However, this success is not expected to last. The COVID-19 coronavirus is reportedly having a severe effect on the tech industry, reducing graphics card and motherboard demand in China and has crippled manufacturing.

“This is the third consecutive quarter of increased GPU shipments, However, Q1, which is seasonally flat to down, may show an unusual dip because of supply chain interruptions from China due to the coronavirus epidemic," John Peddie, JPR president said in a statement.

"2020 is going to be a game-changer with Intel’s entry into the discrete GPU market and a possible fourth entry by an IP company.”

Nevertheless, it appears that although the tech industry might be suffering, computer vendors are expecting a 7% increase in GPU shipments for Q1 2020. We are curious to see to whether these expectations will be met, as well as the role Intel's upcoming discrete graphics card will play.