In case you haven’t noticed, the PC gaming market is exploding. As we reported in the closing days of 2016, PC gaming software sales reached nearly $36 billion ($35.8 billion to be exact) during 2016, compared to just $6.6 billion for console game sales. Neither was able to touch mobile gaming revenues, however, which hit $40.6 billion during the full year of 2016.

Now, Jon Peddie Research (JPR) offers a report on PC gaming hardware sales for 2016, and they likewise hit a record high. Hardware sales surged past the $30 billion mark for the first time ever, topping out at $30.6 billion. In addition, the PC gaming hardware industry's Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) is expected to top 6 percent through the end of the decade.







According to the report, sales of gaming console like the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 have not done much to blunt the purchasing power of hardcore PC gamers, with the research firm noting “the western appetite for PC gaming systems costing thousands of dollars is strong.”

JPR points out that both AMD and NVIDIA deserve kudos for offering a wide range of graphics cards that appeal to a broad gaming audience. Not everyone has the money to spend on a $799 Radeon Pro Duo or $600 on a GeForce GTX 1080. As a result, both companies have rolled out entry-level graphics cards like the Radeon RX 460 and GeForce GTX 1050 (as well as products to cover the mid-range) that appeal to gamers at every budget level.

“The desktop ergonomic is popular because the display distance offers increased detail when using HD and UHD monitors. Additionally there is superior control with mouse and keyboard control interfaces,” said Ted Pollak, JPR Senior Game Industry Analyst.“ This has been validated with eSports competitions overwhelmingly being played on the PC platform.







“Liquid cooling, lighting, solid state drives, genre specific gaming mice, mechanical keyboards, notebook graphics amplifiers, and Xbox accessory compatibility offer gamers more choices than they have ever had.”

Looking forward, the report offers the hope that 2017 will be another record year, with the launch of hot gaming hardware like AMD’s Ryzen CPU and its Vega graphics architecture. Intel should also close the year out strong with the launch of Cannon Lake and the new existing Kaby Lake platform coming on strong for desktop PCs in the immediate future as well.