Jon Peddie Research today announced estimated graphics shipments and supplier market share for the fourth calendar quarter of 2006.

The research company estimates that approximately 83.5 million PC graphics devices shipped from major suppliers in Q4 2006, a surprisingly small 0.9% increase from the prior quarter and a 5.1% increase over the same period the previous year.

"Overall, we didn?t see the big bang in Q4 this year everyone had hoped for," says Dr. Jon Peddie, President of Jon Peddie Research. "But, the mobile market is on fire, growing 13% this quarter and an astonishing 34% year-to-year. Nvidia is the big success story in that segment with the most growth, two quarters in a row."

The desktop graphics segment saw shipments decline by 4.0% from Q3?06 to Q4?06 and shipments shrnk 4.2% year-to-year. Desktop integrated graphics processor (IGP) shipments dropped 2.9% sequentially (the second consecutive quarter of decline) and decreased 1.5% annually. Discrete desktop dropped by 6.0% on a quarterly basis and 8.9% year-to-year.

"Vista, ATI?s new part (the R600), and several new add-in boards (AIBs) from Nvidia are expected to pump up the declining desktop discrete market," Peddie added.

The mobile graphics segment saw quarterly shipments rise a dramatic 13.8% and grow 34.1% year-to-year. Mobile IGP shipments drove growth in the laptop market in the second quarter with 13.0% increase in shipments during the period, and discrete mobile shipments grew a stunning 16.2% during the quarter and jumped 24.2% compared to the same period the previous year.

"The laptop market has moved to the large-screen, multimedia usage model," says Peddie. "Now the criterion for performance is being able to play a full-length movie on one battery charge."

JPR estimates that a record 25.8 million mobile graphics devices shipped in Q4?06, 19.7 million of which were integrated chipsets (IGPs) for notebooks. Mobile IGPs claimed a commanding share of 76.3% in the mobile graphics market, up 13.0% from the prior quarter and up a dramatic 37.6% from the same period a year ago. Intel led the mobile graphics market with a 49.8% share (down from 51.4%), AMD dropped to a 23.4% share, and Nvidia jumped with a 22.9% market share gain for the quarter. SiS and VIA saw declines in market share.

In the discrete mobile segment, AMD saw shipments decline on a quarterly basis while Nvidia saw shipments increase sequentially. Nvidia grew discrete mobile segment share from 53.0% in Q3?06 to 59.1% in Q4?06. AMD?s segment share fell from 47.0% in Q3?06 to 40.9% in Q4?06.

"Timing is everything in the mobile market," says Peddie, "and Nvidia had its mobile parts lined up and ready to ship with Intel?s recent laptop rollout."

JPR estimates that approximately 57.6 million desktop graphics devices shipped in Q4?06. Overall, Intel held at 31.8% of the desktop graphics market, AMD increased to 22.8%, while Nvidia declined to 31.0% market share. In the discrete desktop segment, Nvidia also declined, to 53.8% share, and AMD grew to a 46.2% share during the period.

In the overall PC graphics market, Intel saw a flat quarter in graphics shipments in Q4?06, but was still the largest supplier of PC graphics devices worldwide. Nvidia remained the second largest supplier in Q4?06 but with a minor 0.3% sequential decline in shipments and decreased market share. AMD, the third largest reduced the gap with Nvidia with a 3.0% sequential increase in shipments and increased market share.