Quick highlights for Q2

• AMD's overall unit shipments decreased -12.28% quarter-to-quarter, Intel's total shipments increased 2.62% from last quarter, and Nvidia's decreased -7.49%.
• The attach rate of GPUs (includes integrated and discrete GPUs) to PCs for the quarter was 135% which was down -4.61% from last quarter.
• Discrete GPUs were in 32.83% of PCs, down -6.28%.
• The overall PC market increased 1.9% quarter-to-quarter and increased 2.04% year-to-year.
• Desktop graphics add-in boards (AIBs) that use discrete GPUs decreased -27.96% from last quarter.
• Q2'18 saw a no change in tablet shipments from last quarter.

GPUs are traditionally a leading indicator of the market, since a GPU goes into every non-server system before it is shipped, and most of the PC vendors are guiding cautiously for Q2'18 The Gaming PC segment, where higher end GPUs are used, was a bright spot in the market in the quarter.

The PC market is showing more stabilization, and now seems to have shaken off the gold rush fever of crypto-mining, overall volume slipped, albeit with bright spots for the market here and there.

JPR marks Q1'18 as the peak and last hurrah of the crypto-mining fever. Desktop GPUs, which went into mining rigs, have dropped back to their normal volume.

"We believe the market for AIBs for crypto-mining has ended and this will likely be our last mention of it," JPR commented.

Tablets too have seen a slowdown from their peak in 2014, and the forecast is that this once PC cannibal has saturated its market and will decline to a replacement status. It will also be in turn cannibalized by the smart new always connected detachable PC tablets.