Nvidia strengthened its dominance in the add-in-board (AIB) GPU market in the fourth quarter of 2025, capturing a record 94% market share even as overall shipments dipped amid rising memory prices and tariff pressures, according to Jon Peddie Research.

• A dip, not a slump

Global desktop graphics card shipments reached about 11.48 million units in the fourth quarter of 2025, down 4.4% from the prior quarter but well above the 8.45 million units shipped a year earlier. The sequential decline was driven by supply chain cost pressures — notably higher prices for GDDR6 and GDDR7 memory — compounded by tariffs pushing up the cost of discrete GPUs.

• Nvidia pulls away, rivals lose ground

Nvidia's share rose to 94% in the fourth quarter of 2025, up from 92% in the third quarter of 2025 and 84% a year earlier. AMD, meanwhile, fell to just 5%, down from 7% the prior quarter and 15% in the fourth quarter of 2024. Intel held a marginal 1%. The gap reflects clear product positioning: Nvidia's Blackwell-based cards drove sustained demand, while AMD's current-generation RDNA 4 line, per Tech Power Up, targets mainly the mid-range, ceding the high end entirely. Intel's Arc lineup remains a niche play, though the anticipated Battlemage B770 could help it break out of single-digit territory.

• A record year, with caveats

For the full year, discrete GPU shipments hit approximately 44.28 million units in 2025, up from 34.7 million in 2024 and the second-highest annual total of the decade, according to Tom's Hardware. The launch of Nvidia's GeForce RTX 50-series was the primary catalyst, spurring upgrades across the gaming and enthusiast segments.

• Squeezed from both ends

The longer-term picture is more sobering. Jon Peddie Research warns the AIB market faces pressure from both directions: increasingly capable integrated graphics in CPUs and notebooks eroding entry-level demand, while higher component costs dampen the premium segment. Some consumers have already delayed upgrades amid pricing uncertainty. The firm forecasts a compound annual growth rate of -5.9% for the AIB market between 2024 and 2028, even as the installed base of discrete GPUs is projected to reach about 172 million units within five years, with desktop penetration expected to exceed 100%.