Current IGP Implementation to Go Extinct by 2012?

It was revealed last month that Intel would be offering CPUs later this year that feature both a CPU core and GPU core on the same substrate, and AMD’s Fusion is on track to be released about a year later. So with the two leading CPU companies sharing similar goals of implementing the GPU onto the CPU, what does that mean for integrated graphics parts?

According to Jon Peddie Research, it means that typical IGPs will go the way of the dodo very soon… as early as 2012. Their reports show that during 2008, 67% of graphics chips shipped were of the IGP variety, and they suspect that by 2011, that number will drop to 20%, then in 2013, the number will drop once again, to under 1%. That’s a stark difference, but it seems reasonable to expect such a decline, given that a hybrid design seems to make all the sense in the world.

Companies like ATI and NVIDIA still have reason to feel safe where their bread and butter is concerned, however, as these hybrid designs, while faster, will be unable to compete with discrete graphics, although it’s really difficult at this point to make a real assumption as to the real performance differences. For the first while, we’ll likely just see these designs in both mobile and lower-end desktop PCs, or even HTPCs.

JPR numbers show that in 2008, 67% of all graphics chips shipped were of the integrated variety. The prediction is that by 2011 the percentage of IGPs shipped will be 20%. The decline in IGPs shipping means that there will be gains in discrete GPU shipments and a significant growth in CPUs that feature integrated graphics cores.