Desktop GPU Shipments Hit Four-Year High in Q2 2026 Despite Rising Prices

Shipments of discrete desktop graphics cards reached 12.5 million units in the second quarter of 2026, the highest quarterly total since the first quarter of 2022, according to figures from Jon Peddie Research (JPR) cited by TechPowerUp and Tom's Hardware.

The total marked a rise of about 5.9% from the prior quarter and 7.8% compared with the same period a year earlier. For the first half of 2026, desktop add-in-board (AIB) shipments came to 24.3 million units, up from 20.8 million over the equivalent stretch a year before. The last time quarterly shipments were higher was Q1 2022, when the industry moved 13.38 million cards.

The growth came even as graphics card prices have climbed for months. According to TechPowerUp, the industry is contending with a severe memory shortage, with VRAM costs rising and GPU makers implementing several rounds of price increases across entry-level and high-end products.