GPU shipments surged 12% despite weaker PC demand and higher memory costs

In the second quarter of 2026, discrete graphics processor shipments surged by 12.2%, according to Jon Peddie Research, defying a slower PC market and higher component costs due to memory shortages. The rise was even more pronounced year-over-year at 14.1%. This notable increase occurred during a typically slower second quarter for PCs, and came at a time when memory shortages had driven up costs for both PC manufacturers and consumers, particularly those with high-end graphics hardware.

Total consumer PC GPU shipments, encompassing both integrated and discrete processors, reached 75.5 million units in the second quarter, marking a 10.4% increase from the previous quarter and a 1.1% rise from the same period a year prior. Notably, notebook shipments drove most of this growth, with laptop GPU shipments up 16.8% from quarter to quarter. In contrast, desktop GPU shipments declined by 4%.

These figures suggest that demand for PCs with dedicated graphics held up better compared to the overall demand for desktop systems. Intel's integrated graphics in its CPUs held a dominant 56% share of the consumer PC GPU market in the second quarter, according to JPR, followed by Nvidia at 23% and AMD at 21%. The latter's share grew from 14% a year earlier, but this increase appears to be tied to the rise in AMD's consumer CPU shipments rather than standalone GPU sales.

The exact factors driving this increase remain unclear, as JPR did not disclose a unit total for discrete GPUs, only estimating that companies like Nvidia, AMD, and Intel likely shipped about 20 million standalone GPUs in the quarter based on their attachment rates and other shipment data.