AMD Briefly Outsells Nvidia in Q2 2019 GPU Shipments
AMD shipped more GPUs than Nvidia in Q2 2019, marking the first time in five years that AMD held the lead in GPU shipments. According to Jon Peddie Research, AMD saw a significant increase in GPU shipments, up nearly 9.85% from Q1 2019, while Nvidia’s shipments remained relatively flat. This surprising surge for AMD occurred before the launch of their Navi architecture and amidst a lack of ray tracing support in their product lineup.
GPU Market Share Over Time
The last time AMD held this lead coincided with a shift in their product naming conventions. The Radeon R9 290X, at that time, represented the pinnacle of consumer gaming graphics cards, a position Nvidia had yet to counter. However, Nvidia’s subsequent Maxwell architecture allowed them to reclaim and maintain market share dominance until this brief resurgence by AMD.
This uptick in AMD’s GPU shipments is particularly noteworthy given the state of their product portfolio at the time. AMD lacked a true competitor to Nvidia’s high-end offerings. Moreover, AMD GPUs didn’t offer ray tracing support, lagged in the laptop market, and were absent from the premium segment. It’s important to remember that this was Q2 2019, before the Navi architecture was even unveiled.
While AMD dominates the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One market with their custom APUs and also offers integrated graphics within their CPUs, these factors don’t fully explain the shipment figures. The reported statistics exclude console GPUs. While integrated graphics compete with Nvidia’s low-end offerings like the GeForce GT 1030, unlike Intel, the majority of AMD’s CPUs at the time didn’t include integrated graphics.
AMD Radeon R9 290X. Source: Vietgame.asia
This unexpected victory for AMD, though temporary, signaled a potential shift in the market dynamics. The subsequent launch of the Navi architecture with products like the Radeon RX 5700 and RX 5700 XT promised further competition in the GPU market.
This brief period of market share leadership for AMD in Q2 2019 offered a glimpse into the company’s potential for growth and innovation. While Nvidia ultimately regained its dominance, this short-lived victory served as a precursor to the more competitive landscape we see today.
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