Virtual Reality not a factor as Computer Graphics market shows modest growth

According to CG market research firm Jon Peddie Research (JPR), the computer graphics hardware market was worth $130.2 billion in 2017 and is expected to drop slightly to $129.6 billion by 2021, as refresh cycles in workstations have slowed and the use of Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) for cryptocurrency mining becomes a smaller part of the overall market.

This week NVIDIA announced its next-generation CG computation platform, Turing. New use cases include real-time industrial rendering and cinematic frame rates. (Source: NVIDIA Press Room)

The computer graphics (CG) industry has always existed as both a sub-category within IT and as a driver of technological progress. Market growth since the 1970s has been consistent, albeit “spikey” based on a variety of factors, some unique to the CG market.

JPR says the market for CG software in 2017 was worth $16.1 billion (not counting services, maintenance and other aspects) and is expected to grow to $17.7 billion by 2021. The leading graphics-based software products in visual content creation and computer-aided design are moving their sales model away from up-front license purchase and to subscriptions, along with adding cloud-based services.

The chart below (Figure 1) shows recent growth in both hardware and software. There has been considerable buzz around Virtual Reality (VR) in recent years but is not a significant factor in either hardware or software sales. The main point of exploration for VR today is in content creation and design for professionals. (All market data charts in this report courtesy Jon Peddie Research.)

Figure 1: Overall computer graphics market actual or estimated, 2017-2021. (Source: Jon Peddie Research)

The hardware segment of the CG industry (Figure 2) has seen steady overall growth. Occasional ups and downs are due to product cycles and other PC market irregularities. According to JPR, the largest growth segments has been game consoles, gaming PCs, and workstations. GPUs for notebook computers has been in decline in recent years due to fewer units being sold and lower profit margins due to increased competition.

Figure 2: Computer Graphics Hardware Market. (Source: Jon Peddie Research)

Anticipated sales in the software side of CG (Figure 3) are expected to grow steadily, as rapid increases in GPU compute power — much faster than the rate of increase for CPUs — are driving innovation in design and engineering. Visualization is moving from one-off delivery of models at the end of a design cycle to a real-time productivity tool. GPU compute is also one of the key technologies identified by Consilia Vektor as driving the next wave of innovation. (See: https://steemit.com/blockchain/@randallnewton/blockchain-and-the-new-decentralized-innovation-stack

Figure 3: CG software market chart. (Source: Jon Peddie Research)**

Long-term trends in the computer graphics industry, as identified by JPR in its annual CG market update:
-Demand for employees in markets heavily dependent on CG software will be strong.
-The move from text to video as a primary communications medium will continue.
-3D graphics will continue to grow as new consumer-class tools come to market.

Consilia Vektor also sees the following CG industry trends:
-GPU sales will grow as autonomous computing applications such as driverless cars reach the market.
-The monitors market is in early days of adoption for 4K resolution, driving a refresh market in technical use.
-8K monitors are in the R&D pipeline, but commercial adoption won’t be a significant factor for 3-4 years.
-Construction and industrial design are hot new markets for game engine technology as a visualization tool.