Discrete graphics card sales hit four-year record despite soaring memory prices — AMD gains market share as notebook graphics carry the market

(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

Sales of discrete graphics processors for consumer PCs were up both sequentially and year-over-year in the second quarter despite soaring prices caused by component shortages, according to a newly released report by Jon Peddie Research. Although PC CPU shipments dropped in Q2 2026 year-over-year amid seasonality and shortages, sales of standalone graphics processors for consumer computers were up 12.2% sequentially and 14.1% YoY, the best market dynamics in some time.Sales of graphics processing units for consumer PCs — which include integrated and standalone GPUs for desktops and laptops — totaled 75.5 million in the second quarter of 2026, up 10.4% quarter-over-quarter and 1.1% year-over-year, primarily driven by notebooks. This happened as the consumer CPU market contracted by 1.1% YoY amid a massive sequential drop in desktop CPU shipments and a significant rise in mobile CPUs shipments. Desktop GPU shipments declined by 4% quarter-over-quarter, while notebook GPU shipments surged by 16.8%, JPR claims.But despite declining desktop PC unit shipments and modest growth in notebooks, unit shipments of discrete GPUs increased by 12.2% sequentially and 14.1% year-over-year in Q2 2026, according to JPR data. Jon Peddie Research does not publish absolute numbers of standalone graphics processors shipped in the second quarter, but our estimate is that around 20 million discrete GPUs were sold by AMD, Intel, and Nvidia in Q2, based on attach rates and Nvidia's market share and dynamics.