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NVIDIA held roughly 90% of the global desktop add-in-board (AIB) graphics-card market in Q1 2026, after taking about 94% in Q4 2025. Those figures describe shipments of standalone desktop graphics cards—not every GPU in PCs, laptops, consoles, or data centers. The latest quarter also shows why share alone can mislead: AIB shipments remained weak as prices, limited memory supply, and supply-chain disruptions constrained the market.
What does NVIDIA’s 90% share actually measure?
The headline refers to global desktop AIB shipments tracked by Jon Peddie Research (JPR). An add-in board is a standalone graphics card, typically built around a GPU from NVIDIA, AMD, or Intel and sold under a board partner’s brand. In this market, AIB share is a useful measure of competition among desktop discrete graphics cards, but it is not a count of all graphics processors or all gaming hardware.
- Included: standalone desktop graphics cards sold into the AIB channel.
- Excluded: integrated graphics built into CPUs or system-on-chip designs, laptop graphics, data-center accelerators, and graphics in consoles and handhelds.
So “NVIDIA controls over 90% of PC graphics cards” is shorthand for a specific desktop-card segment. It does not mean NVIDIA has 90% of all GPUs in use, 90% of gaming devices, or 90% of GPU revenue. JPR’s figures are estimates of shipments into the channel, not a direct count of cards purchased by consumers.
How the market shares changed
The latest available JPR update in this data set covers Q1 2026 and was published June 10, 2026. It reports NVIDIA’s share down 0.4 percentage points from the prior quarter, with Intel up 0.4 points and AMD nearly flat. Contemporary reporting put the Q1 split at about 90% for NVIDIA, 8% for AMD, and 1% for Intel; JPR’s page gives the changes but not exact final vendor percentages in its searchable text.
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| Quarter | NVIDIA | AMD | Intel | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q4 2024 | 84% | 15% | About 1% | Baseline reported in contemporary coverage. |
| Q2 2025 | 94% | About 6% | About 1% | Shipments surged amid tariff-related purchasing activity. |
| Q3 2025 | 92% | 7% | 1% | NVIDIA slipped from the previous quarter. |
| Q4 2025 | 94% | 5% | 1% | JPR estimated 11.5 million AIB shipments, down 4.4% sequentially. |
| Q1 2026 | About 90% | About 8% | About 1% | Secondary reporting of JPR’s chart; JPR reported 11.82 million shipments, down 0.6% sequentially and up 8.3% year over year. |
Quarterly vendor percentages and shipment totals are market-research estimates. The Q1 split is approximate and should be read as a chart-based estimate reported by Windows Central; the shipment figures and percentage-point changes come from JPR’s Q1 2026 update. Q4 figures come from JPR’s Q4 2025 update.
Share, shipment volume, and revenue are different measures
A vendor can gain share even when it sells fewer cards, if competitors’ shipments fall faster. Conversely, a rising shipment total does not necessarily mean a vendor is gaining share. Share measures the division of a market; unit shipments measure its volume; revenue also reflects prices and the mix of products sold. A company selling more premium cards can have a larger revenue share than its unit share, but these shipment figures alone do not establish vendor revenue shares.
JPR counted 11.5 million AIB shipments in Q4 2025, down 4.4% from the previous quarter. In Q1 2026, it counted 11.82 million, down 0.6% sequentially but up 8.3% year over year. Those totals describe different quarters, not a simple trend of continuous decline. Nor do they show that NVIDIA’s absolute card sales rose: the available figures establish its share movement and total market volume, not a complete vendor-by-vendor unit history.
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How tariffs can distort shipments and prices
Tariff uncertainty can change when businesses and consumers buy, even before a policy’s cost is fully reflected in retail prices. If buyers, distributors, or retailers expect higher import costs, they may bring purchases forward and build inventory. That can boost shipments in one period, followed by weaker demand once the channel is stocked. If tariffs raise import costs, the eventual effect on a particular card’s price depends on factors such as country of origin, exemptions, inventory timing, exchange rates, retailer pricing, and board-partner margins.
JPR described tariffs as fluctuating and identified tariff uncertainty alongside memory costs and supply-demand pressures in its market commentary. It also connected earlier strong shipment periods with efforts to get ahead of anticipated tariffs. That supports treating tariffs as a source of pressure and timing distortion—not as a proven single cause of NVIDIA’s market position or as a precise explanation for any one retail price.
Why memory costs matter to graphics cards
Graphics cards use substantial amounts of high-speed memory, with GDDR6 and GDDR7 used across different models. When memory is scarce or more expensive, it raises a component cost that card makers must absorb or pass along. The squeeze can be especially difficult for entry-level and midrange cards, where consumers are more price-sensitive and manufacturers have less room to offset higher costs.
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JPR cited higher prices, limited memory availability, and supply-chain disruption as reasons for weaker Q1 2026 AIB shipments. Demand for AI and data-center products can affect the broader memory supply chain, but the available evidence does not establish a direct, one-for-one diversion of graphics-card memory to those products.
Why NVIDIA is far ahead—and what the share figures cannot explain
The shipment gap is real, but the percentages do not identify a single cause. NVIDIA benefits from strong brand recognition, broad developer support, and an established software and feature ecosystem that includes DLSS, frame generation, CUDA, and NVENC. Its products span price tiers, although availability and value vary by model and period. These factors can influence purchasing decisions and make it harder for competitors to displace an incumbent.
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Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstallAMD’s desktop AIB share does not represent its entire graphics business: the segment excludes integrated graphics, consoles, and other semi-custom products. Intel is a newer entrant in discrete gaming graphics. For both competitors, performance per dollar, product coverage, launch timing, supply, board-partner support, driver confidence, and feature support can affect sales. The market-share data describes the outcome; it does not prove that any one of those factors explains it or that AMD and Intel lack competitive products.
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What a concentrated market can mean for buyers
For shoppers, NVIDIA’s scale can mean a wide choice of partner cards and broad support for its features and applications. But overwhelming share also means less pressure from rivals across the market, which can weaken price competition or leave buyers with fewer strong alternatives in some product tiers. A dominant ecosystem may also increase the cost of switching for someone whose games or work depend on particular features or software.
Market share is not a buying recommendation. Compare the specific cards available at the prices you can actually pay, considering:
- Performance in your games at your target resolution and refresh rate, including both conventional rendering and ray tracing.
- Upscaling and frame-generation support, and the image quality you prefer.
- VRAM capacity and memory bandwidth for the games and applications you use.
- Power consumption, required PSU capacity, power connectors, and case clearance.
- Cooling, noise, warranty terms, driver stability for your applications, and retailer return policy.
- Current stock and street price, which can shift with supply constraints and tariff uncertainty.
When buying now makes sense
Buy when you need the performance, the card is available at a price you consider acceptable, and your power supply and case can support it. Compare competing models on their actual price and the workloads you run rather than paying extra solely because one brand dominates shipments.
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When waiting may be reasonable
If your current GPU still meets your needs and prices look unusually high, waiting avoids buying under pressure. There is no guarantee that tariffs, memory supply, or retail prices will improve on a particular schedule, so waiting is a choice to defer a purchase—not a promise of a future discount.
When to consider AMD or Intel
Evaluate an AMD or Intel card when its price, VRAM, raster performance, power use, or supported features better fit your needs. Check compatibility and driver support for your own games and applications, particularly if you rely on CUDA or an NVIDIA-specific feature.
Why the desktop add-in-board market faces pressure
JPR’s forecasts have changed between report editions, so their periods and assumptions should not be combined. Its Q4 2025 report projected a -5.9% compound annual growth rate from 2024 to 2028 and an installed base of 172 million units at the end of that forecast period. In its Q1 2026 report, JPR stated a -3.3% CAGR from 2024 to 2029 and projected an installed base of 183 million units. These are forecasts, not measured outcomes or guarantees.
Structural pressures may include increasingly capable integrated and laptop graphics, longer upgrade cycles, high card prices, rising memory costs, and tariff uncertainty. Some players may stretch a card’s useful life with upscaling or frame generation rather than upgrade; others may choose a console, handheld, cloud gaming, or integrated graphics instead of a desktop card. These shifts can affect AIB demand without implying that PC gaming or graphics hardware is disappearing.
What the market-share data cannot tell you
- A 94% share in one quarter does not mean NVIDIA accounts for 94% of all GPUs installed in PCs or all gaming systems.
- Shipment estimates are not retail sell-through, and a shipment surge may partly reflect inventory building or purchases brought forward.
- Shipment share does not establish revenue share, profitability, performance leadership in every price tier, or the best value for an individual buyer.
- Steam hardware surveys and shipment estimates answer different questions and should not be treated as interchangeable.
- Quarterly percentages can move with market conditions, while long-term forecasts can change as assumptions and report periods change.
For the latest published quarter here, the clearest conclusion is narrow but significant: NVIDIA remained overwhelmingly dominant in global desktop add-in-board graphics shipments, while the market faced price, memory, and supply pressures. That concentration matters to buyers because competition shapes the choices and prices available—not because market share alone determines which card is right for a particular system.
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