Apparently, there's no point in the stronger ones without good graphics

Aug 28, 2014 14:40 GMT  ·  By

Years ago, when Intel and AMD began to integrate GPUs in their central processing units as a matter of course, I could have probably told you that it would eventually lead to a drop in sales for mainstream CPUs, even if it sounds paradoxical.

Mainstream, or mid-range, central processing units, any mid-range products really, are called that because they are appealing to the majority of consumers.

However, it seems that sales of mainstream CPUs, at least for Intel, have begun to drop, while shipments of low-end chips like Celeron (2970M, N2930, and N2940) and Pentium (3558U, N3530, and N3540) are on the rise.

This information comes from supply chain companies in Taiwan and is a reflection of a simple fact: integrated graphics don't need to be that great for a PC to run.

Sure, Core-series processors have superior iGPUs, but you can't use them for anything other than web browsing and low-resource games. Which means that you're stuck doing the same things a low-end PC would.

Thus, people not planning on buying add-in graphics and playing the latest games, or using video/graphics editing programs, are finding it more convenient to get cheaper systems based on low-end CPUs. This applies to both desktops and notebooks.

Low-end PCs accounted for 50-60% of total sales in the first half of 2014, but were of 70% during the most recent month.