The graphics add-in-board (AIB) market beats seasonal trends in Q1 2018, Jon Peddie Research (JPR) reports-- shipments are up by 6.4% Q-o-Q, with revenues reaching over $5 billion.
AIBs use discrete GPUs, and are found in desktop PCs, workstations, servers, rending and mining farms, and devices such as scientific instruments. They are either bought directly by the customer or factory-installed by OEMs, and make the higher end of the graphics industry with discrete chips and private, often large, high-speed memory (as opposed to integrated GPUs sharing slower system memory).
Currently the AIB market has just two GPU suppliers, both also building and selling AIBs-- namely AMD and Nvidia. JPR also counts 48 AIB suppliers, dubbed "partners" by the GPU suppliers. In addition, around 12 PC suppliers offer AIBs as part of a system, and some offer AIBs as a separate aftermarket product.
As mentioned earlier, the Q1 2018 numbers are strange. Where usually AIB shipments drop compared to the previous quarter, Q1 2018 AIB shipments are up. Such results are in part due to the use of AIBs in cryptocurrency mining, even if some analysts predict a downturn in the use of GPUs in cryptomining in the coming months.
Meanwhile the gaming PC market continues to grow, with "robust" demand. JPR describes gaming as the "bright spot" in the AIB market, particularly thanks to the impact of eSports. Leaving less of an impression is VR, which is "interesting" but still to grow into an AIB market driver.