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Publishing reviews of video cards we at the same time trace changes in this market segment. The Russian IT market keeps on growing, and both vendors and distributors admit this fact. The graphics card market is also extending. Our lab regularly carries out researches and we have collected quite useful and interesting data we'd like to share with you. Apart from information we receive from our readers we've got some interesting data from Russian distributors, i.e. the companies that sell hardware directly.
The data are given for the second quarter of 2003. Most trade companies estimate the Russian graphics sector to be equal to 4.5 M cards for 2003. This isn't an exact figure but a predictable one. Up to 30% of graphics cards are bought for modernization of old PCs. The PC market is estimated to be the same 4.5 - 5 M pcs. That is why about 30% of all new PCs are equipped with integrated graphics systems.
The average video card is priced at $50-$60. The overall situation looks as follows:
Expensive cards are purchased mostly by those who chase new games or by well-off people. Note that the data do not cover integrated solutions.
Although the leading card makers claim that the revolution has happened, the share of DirectX 7 cards is still considerable. The developers are well aware of it and do not hurry to bring games for the DirectX 9.
Now comes the most interesting diagram demonstrating shares the card makers take on our market. Note that the data are obtained before the new lines from ATI and NVIDIA were released (Radeon 9800XT and GeForce 5950 Ultra) and before ASUS announced its collaboration with ATI and Gigabyte partnered NVIDIA. As soon as possible we will see whether these events affected the layout.
The iXBT.com audience provide the following figures about their video cards:
So,
This is the first time we carry out such investigation, and next time we will increase the number of distributors interviewed and collect as more data from our readers as possible.
To complete this research we'd like to share with you the video chip makers' opinion.
Alexander Zhavoronkov, Central and Eastern European Manager
ATI's data are closer to those of the iXBT.com audience except the integrated graphics. According to the partners producing cards based on our chipsets, on the Russian discrete solutions market our volume of sales exceeds 23%. Such a small market share can be explained by a relatively slow market reaction to our new line which we believe beats our competitor's one. The Russian market, especially it's it's not Moscow, well remember downsides of ATI's drivers, but now they are very stable and widely compatible and we update them quite often. Also, the market consumes mostly low-level graphics solutions where ATI's partners are not always able to offer the cheapest solutions. But the situation is to change for better in the near future. I used to be in charge of the price policy on the OEM market in our headquarters in Toronto, and judging by parameters influencing products' prices such as a die size, production complexity, packaging, rejection rate, and by the manufacturer's price policy, I'm sure that when our products fall into the entry-level niche ATI will become a leader here. ATI keeps the lead on the market of mobile graphics solutions with the share of about 70%. Taking into account ATI's investments and the fact that the mobile market keeps on expanding our graphics market share is going to grow up considerably. In the middle of the next year, when the IT market turns to the PCI Express, ATI, being Intel's validation partner in the PCI Express graphics sphere, will take a leading position in all price segments. Also accounting for the success the Nintendo GameCube, Microsoft Xbox 2, Motorola cell phones and Samsung's digital TV boxes had on the market, we can expect ATI to become a leader in many sectors of the consumer market.
3D-Video Editor comments:
Let me correct the situation with the drivers: the current second version (WHQL) serves an example of hustle and careless attitude rather than an example of stability.
Roy Taylor, Sales Director EMEA
NVIDIA has been investing in the Russian market for a number of years and these figures reflect our efforts and those of our partners in the region. Furthermore, NVIDIA has also been the first company to recognize the growing importance of the enormous talent within the Russian game development community.
NVIDIA still has a lot more to do to reach an even wider audience and
we are increasing our investment and resource in Russia as we believe that
it will soon be amongst the top three largest regions in EMEA within the
next few years.