Is it just me or do we need a 3rd player in the GPU industry?

[SirPauly]

There was a ton of competition at one time; it's not like there wasn't a lot of players. The most talented players survived and as long as there is competition, there at least will be value and innovation as they compete with each other.

I'm all for more choice but why exactly does one feel that another player will bring something new to the table that AMD and nVidia can't? So hard to compete with these two talented companies that one of the most impressive technology company's - Intel has and had so many troubles trying to compete with Amd and nVidia's strengths.

What experience is one missing?

Does one feel like they're not receiving value?

Does one feel like having more choice will bring more attention to the PC market?

 

[taltamir]

There was a ton of competition at one time; it's not like there wasn't a lot of players. The most talented players survived and as long as there is competition, there at least will be value and innovation as they compete with each other.

Hypothetically, if we do get to a "single player" status at any time, it will stagnate a few years milking existing tech for cash; significantly reducing barriers of entry.
at which point new players will enter the market and spur the original back to action or simply surpass the original.

 

[BenSkywalker]

IT, Qualcom, Intel, nVidia, AMD- That is the list of GPU makers in order of volume shipped(number two in the market bought their position for a pittance from AMD). Right now high end PC GPUs are a shrinking market with a several billion dollar price of entry to compete. From a business perspective, it makes no sense to enter the high end market. Out of those currently shipping GPUs, nV and AMD are the only ones likely to ever compete in the discrete market moving forward. I would be more concerned long term with how viable the market is going to remain with the ROI as incredibly low as it already is. How much longer does it make sense to continue to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to perhaps generate at most a 100% total ROI? This applies to both AMD and nVidia. If it weren't for the professional market generating so much revenue I wouldn't be surprised to see nV exit within the next few years(although as of right now the pro market IS making the ROI worthwhile).

From a realistic perspective speaking from a business angle, we are very lucky we have what we have now. AMD made a very dumb investment in securing ATi(with returns to date it will be decades before ATi pays for itself) and nVidia had relied almost exclusively on PC GPUs to continue operations. Both of these companies business models are changing and their focus isn't on providing the best PC GPUs they can any more. We still have quite a while left enjoying them fighting for supremacy, but from a business perspective barring a drastic change in current trends the writing is on the wall.

 

[Arkadrel]

I do know 1 thing though... if AMD goes bankrupts we re all screwed.

We will only have Intel CPUs... and only have nvidia cards.... and prices will skyrocket.