Jon Peddie Research recently reviewed GPU sales data, graphics card segmentation, and Steam's Hardware Surveys to find that enthusiasts & gamers prefer playing games on desktop PCs instead of notebooks.
A higher percentage of gamers use desktop PC systems to play games instead of notebooks, but current marketing data says differently
Jon Peddie Research is a technically oriented multimedia and graphics research and consulting firm with a keen eye on the technology field for over thirty years. In the research firm's newest data analysis on the PC gaming marketplace, the company noticed that 87% of gamers prefer to use desktop gaming computers instead of highly publicized gaming notebooks.
But why does the sales data show an increase in gaming laptops? JPR explains that gaming notebooks may not be used to play games but are used for other categories. In their recent report, the firm analyzed Steam's Hardware survey that split graphics cards into three categories — desktop, notebook, and either.
The "Either" category is used to place GPU configurations that could show up on desktops or laptops. Still, a fourth category, "unknown," is also in the analysis, albeit with a small two percent of users surveyed.
Valve's Steam survey showed that desktop GPU configurations were tallied by 68% of users, while 10% were notebook graphics. The remaining 20% was placed in the "either" category, making it difficult to tell the exact configuration used.
JPR's methodology to understand the realistic number of desktop GPUs to notebook GPUs using the other two categories showed that 87% of users are playing on desktop PCs. In contrast, 13% of users are most likely playing on notebooks. Desktop computers offer much more customization features compared to laptops and are more affordable. This would explain why desktops would be preferred over notebooks for PC gaming.
- Power Users: Power users could be in the educational, design, programming, scientific, medical, government, or finance user categories. The reputation for the highest-performance PC computing products has long been known by power users to be gaming-optimized systems. Consequently, power users are likely to use gaming-optimized notebooks as workstations.
- Style-Influenced Users: Gaming notebooks are not only powerful, but they have attractive style elements including lighting and sleek shell designs. Like a sports car buyer who never uses the performance, gaming notebook users appreciate aesthetics, pride of ownership, and status.
- Gamer Secondary Systems: For all the above reasons and perhaps also brand loyalty, we believe there are gamers who buy gaming notebooks for general computing tasks but rarely, if ever, actually play games on them.
The research firm continues explaining that PC manufacturers review SKUs and "branding-level data and non-market representative internal sales data" when analyzing what products are selling and what they should focus their manufacturing on to acquire the most sales figures. However, the data can fool even the top companies, as users may not purchase a gaming notebook specifically for gaming but for other purposes, such as design, programming, finance, and more, especially when the systems are highly optimized with components that offer the most performance for the cost. However, you also have users that purchase gaming notebooks for looks, similar to someone buying a high-end and flashy car to impress others and to fit a specific look for their gaming setups.
JPR feels that companies should reanalyze the use of the products currently on the market so that manufacturers can invest in systems serving the intended purposes & better market for those PCs.
News Source: Jon Peddie Research
