Why aren't there more GPU companies?

[marcooli0]

This is a question that's been bugging me for some time. Since 2008, Nvidia and ATI/AMD have had virtually 100% domination of the GPU market.

So here's the question: why haven't more companies tried to enter this market? Is it just that difficult of an industry to get started in? Is Nvidia's dominance so vast that it has intimidated new upstarts away from appearing? Are there perhaps legalities preventing people from starting their own GPU companies?

And why hasn't Intel tried to reach beyond their integrated graphics and expand into dedicated graphics cards?

I know, I know. Really random of me to ask but I'm super curious.

 

[M0j0jojo]

There are more GPU and CPU manufacturing companies out there but its either that AMD and Nvidia have bought them or they are just not good enough. for example BFGs Physx cards, bought by Nvidia. and ATI was bought by AMD.

But yea there are lots of other CPU and GPU manufacturers out there

 

[bigpinkdragon286]

There used to be more companies producing GPU type products but for one reason or another, they either left that market, got swallowed by the competition, closed up shop, or now rebrand other people's hardware. It is a tough segment to compete in.

While I personally feel that Intel could buy their way into the graphics market, I don't see them making a return on such an investment. Intel is after the 'good enough' segment, and they are drooling over mobile.

 

[Xyos]

Manufacturing. Its an expensive business, requires sterile environments, tons of experienced skilled engineers (that require high salaries), etc. Takes a lot of capital to break into that.

Also there are more than just Nvidia and AMD. Qualcomm and Foxxconn manufacture GPU's mainly for mobile/tablets, but they are GPU's none the less.

As for intel, I don't know exactly why they have not gotten in the GPU business, but their integrated graphics are getting better and better by the year.

 

[computertech82]

There was others, but most have been bought out or went out of business. Same with cpus. It's expensive trying to make and invent new gpus/cpus.
As for intel it's fairly cheap making the on-board gpus, then trying to make one to compete against the much higher end video cards out there.

 

[theonerm2]

There are other ones. You mentioned the biggest ones but there is also VIA, Matrox, PowerVR... SIS... The market is already dominated by Nvidia and AMD and it costs a lot of money to make good dedicated graphics cards. It's a huge risk and those smaller companies just can't afford to take that kind of risk. Maybe one of these days Intel will be competitive with Nvidia and AMD. They have the money to do so but the thing about them is that they are a CPU company first and foremost.

 

[marcooli0]

These are all great answers, thanks. Do you think we could see APUs supplant the need for a separate graphics card and cpu down the line?

 

[bigpinkdragon286]

APUs already have supplanted the need for discrete graphics devices, in some cases.

Since there will most likely always be a disparity between how much graphics horsepower can be crammed into a discrete graphics device and a built-in one, you will likely find discrete components for a long time to come. At some point, you may see all graphics devices being 'good enough' for even enthusiast level graphics, and then you might see discrete devices start to diminish in the market place.

Edited for spelling.

 

[Formagella]

I guess the same reality of CPU manufacturing applies. Consolidation is inevitable and the barriers to entry are huge. Even Intel failed entering the discrete GPU market (remember Intel Larrabee?).

Integrated graphics already dominate the market considering most consumer devices are mobile and most people don't need discrete graphics.
I don't think discrete video cards are going to disappear any time soon though. They're declining in the low performance segment because the integrated graphics have been slowly catching up, and will continue to do so but in high performance and GPGPU are going to be here for a long time (although PC gaming is declining I think, desktop PCs in general are declining due to the huge amount of options, professionals are always going to buy stuff though). An old high end card is still better than the integrated graphics of today except for the fact that it's obsolete for other reasons.

discreet

discreet means not noticeable, discrete means separate and is the word you're looking for.

It's funny because both sound the same and both come from the same French word (which is pronounced slightly different as always), and in Romance languages there is only one spelling and one pronunciation for both meanings, but in English it differentiated into two spellings with two different meanings.
Discreet reflects the pronunciation while discrete reflects the latin/french spelling.
I guess it's because discrete was mostly a mathematical adjective and so it was used only in academia.
The inconsistent spelling is why writing the more complicated/cultured words is easy for Romance speakers (since thanks to the French conquest, they're all French/Latin) but it's difficult for americans (hence the spelling bees, which don't make sense in languages with the mostly phonetic writing systems).

 

[bigpinkdragon286]

discreet means not noticeable, discrete means separate and is the word you're looking for.

Thanks, smarty pants!

 

[Formagella]

Cause AMD/nvidia have what is called a Duopoly on the market. If Intel grows some ballz then I think they have the wherewithal and more importantly the knowledge, research facilities and fabrication processes to stand up to AMD Radeon and nvidia graphics.

Larrabee was cancelled because they didn't like the early results and they're not going to try again any time soon imho.