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Nvidia gaining ground on Intel, AMD in graphics

Graphics shipments were up in the second quarter as Intel held on to its lead on the strength of Centrino.

Tom Krazit Former Staff writer, CNET News
Tom Krazit writes about the ever-expanding world of Google, as the most prominent company on the Internet defends its search juggernaut while expanding into nearly anything it thinks possible. He has previously written about Apple, the traditional PC industry, and chip companies. E-mail Tom.
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Tom Krazit

Nvidia painted a pretty picture in the graphics market during the second quarter.

The company's market share soared by 81 percent compared with a year ago, as it overtook AMD's ATI division and erased some of Intel's lead in the market for PC graphics, according to new data from Jon Peddie Research. Intel held 37.6 percent of the market in the second quarter, while Nvidia garnered 32.6 percent and AMD had 19.5 percent.

Intel holds the lead in graphics by virtue of its integrated graphics chipsets, which ship with low-end desktops and lots of notebooks. Nvidia and AMD also make integrated graphics chipsets, but are better known for the high-powered graphics processors that come in more expensive PCs. Nvidia ruled the roost in the desktop market, but Intel has a sizable advantage in notebooks, thanks to its Centrino marketing program, which encourages PC makers to use Intel's mobile chipsets.

AMD's market share fell 19 percent as it integrates the former ATI into its operations. AMD launched a new series of ATI graphics hardware later than some had anticipated, which may have contributed to its market share woes.

Overall, the graphics market was up 3 percent compared with the first quarter, a reflection of strong demand for PCs that also helped PC processor shipments increase in the second quarter. Graphics shipments were up 8.2 percent compared with last year.