The purchase of graphics processing units (GPUs) by cryptocurrency miners helped an explosion in sales during the fourth quarter of 2020, according to graphic and multimedia research firm Jon Peddie Research (JPR).
In a press release on Wednesday, JPR said GPU shipments increased 20.5% in the fourth quarter compared to the previous quarter and 12.4% year-over-year.
The increase in sales, largely due to a move led by the coronavirus to work in home offices and the increase in indoor activities, such as video games, was also driven by cryptocurrency mining, the company said.
“The pandemic has distorted all models and forecasts, as has the gold rush in Ethereum,” said JPR.
JPR President and Founder Jon Peddie said that while there has been speculation that crypto mining could potentially trigger a renewed demand for GPUs, the power consumption of next-generation cards “greatly diminishes the reward”.
In addition, “Ethereum, the most suitable currency for GPUs, will enter version 2.0 very soon, making GPUs obsolete,” said Peddie. “It would be very foolish for a person to invest in high-tech equipment that consumes energy [GPU] for crypto mining today. “
GPU vendors like Nvidia have struggled to keep up with the growing demand for units that power everything from multimedia rendering to keeping up with the latest game titles and, although they don’t like it, mining ether.
Demand from the crypto industry has been accused of making the latest graphics cards scarce for the daily retail consumer. Nvidia responded recently by changing software drivers for next-generation cards to make mining less effective. Instead, the company will offer a dedicated mining unit.