SAN FRANCISCO—Shipments of graphics chips declined 10 percent sequentially in the fourth quarter of 2011, continuing a new seasonal trend hat has taken shape since the financial crisis of 2008, according to analysts at Jon Peddie Research (JPR).
Prior to 2008, the fourth quarter was typically a time of sequential growth for graphics chip shipments, JPR said. Since 2008, the fourth quarter has been a seasonally down quarter, with last year's 10 percent decline the biggest drop since 2008, JPR said.
JPR said a lot of the sequential unit decline was blamed on the PC supply chain bottleneck caused by flooding in Thailand last year. But the firm noted that general economic malaise still permeates the industry.
Slightly more than 124 million graphics chips shipped in the fourth quarter, down 10 percent from the third quarter, but up 9 percent compared with the fourth quarter of 2010, according to JPR.
JPR said it revised downward its forecasts for desktop and PC shipments in coming years, saying that media tablets have changed the nature of the PC markets.
