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[TPU] Global PC Gaming Hardware Sales Shrug off PC Market Decline: JPR

5K views 64 replies 32 participants last post by  Carniflex 
#1 ·
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In a challenged PC market one user group is standing firm against the winds of change blowing many casual computer users to the "good enough" mindset behind sales of tablets and cloud computing devices-PC gamers. PC gamers continue to buy and build with a fervency that could be compared to motorcycle, 4X4, and sports car enthusiasts, always looking for more speed, power, utility, and handling.

Jon Peddie, President of JPR said, "Not only is gaming becoming an even more important purchasing influence of PC sales due to the offloading of more basic functionality to smart devices, but we are forecasting growth in the most expensive discrete graphics products. We are also impressed with the embedded graphics offerings this generation and going forward."

Ted Pollak, Senior Gaming Analyst at JPR said, "The effect that key titles have on hardware sales is phenomenal. Enthusiast PC Gamers embrace content creation and modding, so when titles like Bohemia Interactive's ARMA 3 are in the pipeline, we start to see anticipatory hardware sales. In fact, we are estimating over $800 million of PC builds influenced primarily by this title. A major component of this situation is that many games are placing increasing demands on the CPU. The result is that swapping out the graphics add-in board is not enough this time around and gamers are building (and ordering) overclocked PC's from the ground up."
http://www.techpowerup.com/188572/global-pc-gaming-hardware-sales-shrug-off-pc-market-decline-jpr.html
 
#2 ·
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The result is that swapping out the graphics add-in board is not enough this time around and gamers are building (and ordering) overclocked PC's
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swapping out the graphics add-in board is not enough
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graphics add-in board
What is this strange language o_O

On a serious note, yay! Great news for PC builders everywhere, the performance/price wars between companies are sure to heat up even further resulting in better deals for us
thumb.gif
 
#3 ·
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#4 ·
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There can never be a "Fast Enough" home computer! I use the following metric to describe Consumer computer performance: Barely Acceptable > Slow > Very Slow > AMD > Dead Slow > Pretty Damn Archaic > C64 Slow.
^that's pretty hilarious hahahahaha

i really hope this trend won't end once next-gen consoles are out.

didn't know there's such a big following behind ARMA
 
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#6 ·
Someone seems to have actually asked the right question this time instead of lumping our hobby with the totality of the PC trend.
 
#7 ·
God, the PC had been in "decline" for so long its a wonder anyone even had a desktop anymore.
rolleyes.gif
 
#9 ·
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Originally Posted by Crazy9000 View Post

ARMA is a prime PC exclusive. I see Arma 3 sneak into the top10 of steam quite often. I didn't realize that translated to $800m of PC parts though o_O
Sounded crazy to me at first too.
If you think about it though, 1k per Titan, 1k for 3970X/4960X, 1k [minimum] for a high-end triple gaming monitor setup...
Even a relatively small segment of all-out system builders (with no cost restrictions) could understandably hit the $800m mark.
 
#10 ·
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Originally Posted by Majin SSJ Eric View Post

God, the PC had been in "decline" for so long its a wonder anyone even had a desktop anymore.
rolleyes.gif
Not so much about the Hardware, more like R&D. Big Bore Hardware budgets has been overtaken by mobile R&D at more companies than you'd think. On that end, desktops really don't have the innovation mobile based solutions have, and to be honest there is no real need for it by the home user, desktops are already overpowered as it is.
 
#11 ·
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Originally Posted by Phil~ View Post

Not so much about the Hardware, more like R&D. Big Bore Hardware budgets has been overtaken by mobile R&D at more companies than you'd think. On that end, desktops really don't have the innovation mobile based solutions have, and to be honest there is no real need for it by the home user, desktops are already overpowered as it is.
Yep, outside of gaming I don't think I do anything that needs anything better then my old core 2 duo rig.
 
#12 ·
This line here really caught my eye .......

" The effect that key titles have on hardware sales is phenomenal. Enthusiast PC Gamers embrace content creation and modding, so when titles like Bohemia Interactive's ARMA 3 are in the pipeline, we start to see anticipatory hardware sales. In fact, we are estimating over $800 million of PC builds influenced primarily by this title. "

I'm a noob to basically anything computer or how the world of PC markets actually work....BUT , with that being said......If Game developers created some kickass game that brought in 800 million in revenue to the hardware companies.......do the game developers get any kind of kick back from it? Kind of a dumb question I guess since there would be no way to prove that " Their game influenced hardware purchases " I guess......but still. You would think maybe some of that could trickle down to the consumers ( us ) with the hardware companies flipping some coin towards the Game developers.....to create " better and cheaper " games?

I know....I'm living in a fantasy world here. Just a thought that ran through my head when i read the article.
 
#13 ·
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Originally Posted by clubber_lang View Post

This line here really caught my eye .......

" The effect that key titles have on hardware sales is phenomenal. Enthusiast PC Gamers embrace content creation and modding, so when titles like Bohemia Interactive's ARMA 3 are in the pipeline, we start to see anticipatory hardware sales. In fact, we are estimating over $800 million of PC builds influenced primarily by this title. "

I'm a noob to basically anything computer or how the world of PC markets actually work....BUT , with that being said......If Game developers created some kickass game that brought in 800 million in revenue to the hardware companies.......do the game developers get any kind of kick back from it? Kind of a dumb question I guess since there would be no way to prove that " Their game influenced hardware purchases " I guess......but still. You would think maybe some of that could trickle down to the consumers ( us ) with the hardware companies flipping some coin towards the Game developers.....to create " better and cheaper " games?

I know....I'm living in a fantasy world here. Just a thought that ran through my head when i read the article.
Nah, (link). I don't think (link) they see any kind of sponsorship profit in there (link) at all... (link)
 
#14 ·
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Originally Posted by aramisathei View Post

Sounded crazy to me at first too.
If you think about it though, 1k per Titan, 1k for 3970X/4960X, 1k [minimum] for a high-end triple gaming monitor setup...
Even a relatively small segment of all-out system builders (with no cost restrictions) could understandably hit the $800m mark.
You're lowballing on the monitors. It would be more like 2.5K for triple screen setup. Or did you think 1080p monitors were high end?
lachen.gif


Or were you just thinking of catleap monitors?

It's odd, I was just reading about this on Maximum PC earlier today. I am impressed how someone has woken up and smelled the coffee in the PC analyst business. There's far too many airheads crowing about the death of the desktop.

The other implication of this article is something I've long understood instinctively from learning about this industry. Namely, that the bottom end of the market is getting eaten by mobile and tablets. The high end will stay high end, and you'll see fewer lower end parts and builds being sold/assembled as a whole.
 
#15 ·
The gaming pc market is not going anywhere, a lot of us are not abandoning the hobby as we get older, we just have more money to spend. So its obvious why it's growing: steady stream of newcomers and steady base of old timers. There's no good enough option either, so there's not much people sticking with 5 year old builds.
 
#16 ·
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Originally Posted by OverclockerFox View Post

You're lowballing on the monitors. It would be more like 2.5K for triple screen setup. Or did you think 1080p monitors were high end?
lachen.gif


Or were you just thinking of catleap monitors?

It's odd, I was just reading about this on Maximum PC earlier today. I am impressed how someone has woken up and smelled the coffee in the PC analyst business. There's far too many airheads crowing about the death of the desktop.

The other implication of this article is something I've long understood instinctively from learning about this industry. Namely, that the bottom end of the market is getting eaten by mobile and tablets. The high end will stay high end, and you'll see fewer lower end parts and builds being sold/assembled as a whole.
pretty much, also the "journalists" that tend to act like soothsayers predicting the end of the desktop PC seem to forget that content creation is impossible on thier measely mobile or lightweight platforms.
heck, the very magazine, or website they write for wouldnt exist in its current form if there wasnt some high end desktop PCs somewhere chugging away doing web design, magazine layouts, photo editing, etc.
if the high end dies, so does michael bay, he wont be able to create massively insane CGI explosions anymore.
 
#17 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by OverclockerFox View Post

You're lowballing on the monitors. It would be more like 2.5K for triple screen setup. Or did you think 1080p monitors were high end?
lachen.gif


Or were you just thinking of catleap monitors?

It's odd, I was just reading about this on Maximum PC earlier today. I am impressed how someone has woken up and smelled the coffee in the PC analyst business. There's far too many airheads crowing about the death of the desktop.

The other implication of this article is something I've long understood instinctively from learning about this industry. Namely, that the bottom end of the market is getting eaten by mobile and tablets. The high end will stay high end, and you'll see fewer lower end parts and builds being sold/assembled as a whole.
I'd say 90% of triple monitor setups are 22" or 24" screens. That would be even less than a grand.
 
#18 ·
I think the old story of desktops being down in figures is nothing to do with gamers.

Your cheap desktop and not a gaming rig were replaced with laptops and tablets etc.
biggrin.gif
 
#19 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by OverclockerFox View Post

You're lowballing on the monitors. It would be more like 2.5K for triple screen setup. Or did you think 1080p monitors were high end?
lachen.gif
This was just a ballpark figure to show where the $800m could come from--not like I took a poll or anything.
If you look at various common setups, I'd expect an average of 1-1.5k to be a fair number for enthusiasts (can pick up 3 XL2420Ts for $900, for example, and this doesn't include used monitors).

Sure there are more extravagant setups (we could even throw 4k monitors in here), but I wouldn't consider them the standard.
 
#20 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by ladcrooks View Post

I think the old story of desktops being down in figures is nothing to do with gamers.

Your cheap desktop and not a gaming rig were replaced with laptops and tablets etc.
biggrin.gif
Exactly this.

All that's happened is shift in sales,PCs don't just vanish when tablets are bought,most tablets are normally run parallel to PC anyway.
The niche specific users will still be there,we follow hardware needs that mobile can't supply.
 
#22 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil~ View Post

Not so much about the Hardware, more like R&D. Big Bore Hardware budgets has been overtaken by mobile R&D at more companies than you'd think. On that end, desktops really don't have the innovation mobile based solutions have, and to be honest there is no real need for it by the home user, desktops are already overpowered as it is.
No such thing
tongue.gif


 
#23 ·
With the upcoming generation consoles being 64 bit I expect the PC gaming drag itself out of the "max 3.5 GB of RAM" hole and enter into new renaissance with 64 bit game engines. It is a bit sad how many good mods over the past ~5 years have been forced to do unfortunate compromises as a result of such limitation. For example, Civilization 4 and Rise of Mankind is one of such examples which tends to crash as a result of running out of memory in late game on larger maps even with 3 GB flag flipped. But it is only one of the several which I remember from top of my head but I have encountered it also in other modded games from time to time.

Like it or not but mainstream gaming is influenced buy the same gen consoles through main publishers insisting on certain things. You can find innovation innovation in indie games including some 64 bit engines but they are not quite as polished and well supported like, for example, Unreal engine and often lack the critical mass of users and modders to make a breakthrough while otherwise mediocre AAA titles can flip from relatively "meh" into "wow that's nice" in the arms of modding community, like, for example, Skyrim. even heavily modded you can feel its a console port (mainly controls and UI logic) but graphically it can be made damn awesome.
 
#24 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Snowmen View Post

I'd say 90% of triple monitor setups are 22" or 24" screens. That would be even less than a grand.
22 and 24 inch monitors are out the window. It's all about the Korean 27inch 2560x1440 screens and in the future 4k.
 
#25 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by aramisathei View Post

Sounded crazy to me at first too.
If you think about it though, 1k per Titan, 1k for 3970X/4960X, 1k [minimum] for a high-end triple gaming monitor setup...
Even a relatively small segment of all-out system builders (with no cost restrictions) could understandably hit the $800m mark.
I dropped close to probably 5K on my setup. That said, it's only about 3 times more than a regular consumer's "good" setup. I still see $800 million as a very, very high number. You would need 160 thousand people building 5K setups to reach 800 million.
 
#26 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by t00sl0w View Post

pretty much, also the "journalists" that tend to act like soothsayers predicting the end of the desktop PC seem to forget that content creation is impossible on thier measely mobile or lightweight platforms.
heck, the very magazine, or website they write for wouldnt exist in its current form if there wasnt some high end desktop PCs somewhere chugging away doing web design, magazine layouts, photo editing, etc.
if the high end dies, so does michael bay, he wont be able to create massively insane CGI explosions anymore.
Exactly.

It's the exact same as when laptops were "taking over" the PC market, they're currently at 16% or so and have held steady simply because while a laptop works great for consumers, if you're doing a lot of content creation, etc it's just more expensive for no benefit even if they are fast enough at this point.
As for R&D going mainly into mobile at the moment, it's because they're "behind" so to speak; right now PCs are fast enough for most things yet phones can still improve...Performance is great but battery life isn't, while batteries may end up improving over time currently the best bet is to reduce the power needed by all of the components...I honestly don't care as game developers are going to be forced to use more cores either way and considering graphics are starting to run into the law of diminishing returns I fully expect physics and AI to be the areas we see big strides in and physics at least is something that multi-threads easily and well. (Hence why you get GPU acceleration for it.)
 
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