Financial Analysts Say Intel Killed the Discrete Graphics Card

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Intel has most certainly created some tension between integrated graphics, good-enough-graphics and discrete graphics cards with the introduction of Ivy Bridge.

The view of the financial community has been generally very positive, which is reflected in Intel's stock price that is currently trading in the $28 neighborhood and is hitting 7-year highs. With the past 12 months, Intel's market cap has increased from about $110 billion to about $142 billion.

Financial background about Intel released today by financial analyst firm Five Star Equities confirms in that sentiment and indicates that the financial community has, for the first in more than 5 years, high expectations in Intel's opportunity in the chip market. Five Star Equities states that Ivy Bridge essentially kills the discrete graphics card because the integrated graphics of the CPU would be good enough for 95 percent of computer users.

"There is a very small market of people who seek out high-performance graphics cards, mostly comprised of hardcore gamers," the report reads. "The improved graphics provided by the Ivy Bridge chips will likely satisfy the needs of the average consumer."

The report also quotes industry analyst Jack Gold, who said that "extreme gamers who want very powerful graphics cards are in a niche market already, and it's shrinking." Gold continued and noted that Nvidia may be in trouble, "because their graphics chip market is falling off faster than their mobile chip market."

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Douglas Perry
121 Comments Comment from the forums
  • southernshark
    Financial Analysts are overpaid.
    Reply
  • jacobdrj
    Brazos? Trinity? Fusion?
    Reply
  • aaron88_7
    This all makes sense, but I still think a computer looks empty without a massive GPU inside :)
    Reply
  • snotling
    Financial analysts need discreet graphics cards for their multi-display setups LOL.
    at least the serious ones do!
    Reply
  • Onus
    95% of the consumer market is also excluding all those who buy professional graphics cards for 2D work. The "average consumer" who watches moves, views Flash-based content, and plays Solitaire, can get by with AMD's HD4250 or Intel's HD2000. That's been true for over a year now, and the gaming market is still boisterous enough to have AMD and nVidia developing and releasing new cards.
    I smell some bovine fecal material here...
    Reply
  • Intel actually knows how to pick its battles well. Why go for discrete graphics where there are already two mature giants duking it out for the favor of that 5%, when you can subsidize your own improved integrated graphics and reel in all the other fish?
    Reply
  • This computing sector expert then went on to opine about the implications of next-generation games like Angry Birds Space.

    What an idiot.
    Reply
  • trumpeter1994
    Five star Equities states that ivy bridge essentially kills the discrete graphics card because the intergrated graphics would be good enough for 95 percent of computer users.

    Hmmmmmm I guess I'm part of the five percent

    I bet they also think that 95 percent of computer users believe that OS X is immune to malware.
    Reply
  • Pyree
    Not really. You don't need to be a hardcore PC gamer to need a discrete card. You just need to be a PC gamer, as most modern game will not run well with IB's IGP.

    Let's face it, if you don't game or do any GPU intensive task, they will not get discrete GPU. This is true before IB's HD 4000 and and true after it. I don't see how that distribution change, so how exactly will HD 4000 kill the discrete GPU market?
    Reply
  • Goldengoose
    Great, we've just got over the 'desktops are dying!' so it's just changed to 'standalone graphics cards are dying! integrated is the way to go!".

    As long as someone wants to buy, someone will sell. End of.
    Reply