Cryptocurrency mining has been a profitable industry. This is especially true for manufacturers of graphics cards. To much dismay of PC gamers all over the world, a lot of GPUs are bought up to mine altcoins. In 2017, it seems close to $776m worth of GPUs for cryptocurrency mining purposes. This is pretty significant, especially when considering how AMD was the main supplier.
A lot has changed in the world of cryptocurrency mining these days. GPUs are more profitable than they have been in years. This is mainly due to prices of altcoins surging throughout 2017. Consumers were flocking to computer units in the hopes of setting up their own at-home virtual gold mine. As a result, the number of GPUs sold throughout 2017 exploded exponentially. It is a positive development for both AMD and Nvidia, even though the former has come out on top in this regard.
Cryptocurrency Mining is a Blessing for GPU Manufacturers
With over 3 million units sold for cryptocurrency mining specifically, things will get very interesting. These cards generated a revenue of just over $776m in 2017. Most of the sales were for AMD, even though Nvidia cards are also quite powerful. It is evident this massive demand has also caused a lot of problems along the way. Global shortages of GPUs have been rather common in the past six to eight months.
Jon Peddie Research’s Dr. Jon Peddie comments:
“Gaming has been and will continue to be the primary driver for GPU sales, augmented by the demand from cryptocurrency miners. “We expect demand to slacken from the miners as margins drop in response [to] increasing utilities costs and supply and demand forces that drive up AIB prices.”
Whether or not this vision will come true, remains to be seen. Neither AMD nor Nvidia expects big things from cryptocurrency mining-related sales throughout 2018. Then again, both companies may still introduce specific cards for mining. This should help alleviate shortages and rising prices for PC gamers. For the time being, we have to wait and see how things unfold. Until all cryptocurrency markets fully recover, there is no reason to start mining as of right now.
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