AMD confirms GPU strategy shift with Radeon – Market share is now their priority

Market share is now a priority for Radeon, which means they aren’t targeting Nvidia’s highest-end products

Jack Huynh, senior vice president and general manager of the Computing and Graphics Business Group at AMD, was questioned at IFA about the future of Radeon and the GPU market. Specifically, he was asked about AMD’s plans for high-end RDNA 4-powered Radeon GPU products. Now, we know AMD’s business strategy for Radeon, which focuses on building market share rather than delivering the highest-end product.

With RDNA 4, AMD is “looking at scale.” With more scale/market share, AMD can get developers on its side. This is vital for AMD, as developer buy-in will result in software that is better optimised for Radeon products. Additionally, it will help AMD convince developers to integrate technologies like FSR 3, AMD Anti-Lag 2, and others into their games.

Below is what AMD’s Jack Huynh had to say about AMD’s focus on mainstream GPUs.

I’m looking at scale, and AMD is in a different place right now. We have this debate quite a bit at AMD, right? So the question I ask is, the PlayStation 5, do you think that’s hurting us? It’s $499. So, I ask, is it fun to go King of the Hill? Again, I’m looking for scale. Because when we get scale, then I bring developers with us.

So, my number one priority right now is to build scale, to get us to 40 to 50 percent of the market faster. Do I want to go after 10% of the TAM [Total Addressable Market] or 80%? I’m an 80% kind of guy because I don’t want AMD to be the company that only people who can afford Porsches and Ferraris can buy. We want to build gaming systems for millions of users.

Yes, we will have great, great, great products. But we tried that strategy [King of the Hill] — it hasn’t really grown. ATI has tried this King of the Hill strategy, and the market share has kind of been…the market share. I want to build the best products at the right system price point. So, think about price point-wise; we’ll have leadership.

– AMD’s Jack Huynh to Tom’s Hardware

AMD is now focusing their Radeon GPU efforts on the areas of the GPU market where most customers are. AMD has succeeded with this strategy with Polaris, with AMD’s RX 480 and RX 580 being considered legendary mid-range AMD GPUs. This strategy was also pushed with RDNA (RDNA 1) and their Radeon RX 5000 series, with moderate success.

With RDNA 4, AMD seems likely to target the mid-range and lower-end GPU market. This is where AMD can generate the most sales and offer the most competitive designs. This will leave AMD without an RTX 5090-level flagship. However, it will give AMD the resources to deliver a better mid-range product and allow software resources to be focused on fewer products. While we would like to see higher-end GPU products from AMD, it is hard to argue with AMD’s logic here.

One day, we may. But my priority right now is to build scale for AMD. Because without scale right now, I can’t get the developers. If I tell developers, ‘I’m just going for 10 percent of the market share,’ they just say, ‘Jack, I wish you well, but we have to go with Nvidia.’ So, I have to show them a plan that says, ‘Hey, we can get to 40% market share with this strategy.’ Then they say, ‘I’m with you now, Jack. Now I’ll optimize on AMD.’ Once we get that, then we can go after the top.

– AMD’s Jack Huynh to Tom’s Hardware

Why developers are vital for AMD, Radeon, and the GPU market

Nvidia is dominant in the GPU market, making it the go-to option for developers. When games and other software are being optimised for GPUs, they are being optimised for Nvidia GPUs. That places Nvidia’s competitors in a bad position. For developers to take non-Nvidia GPUs seriously, there must be considerable market share for non-Nvidia products. If AMD can deliver compelling products in the highest volume areas of the GPU market and support them with strong software, AMD can change how developers think of Radeon. If AMD can make that change, Radeon GPUs will be much better positioned moving forward.

While AMD doesn’t have a “King of the Hill” strategy with Radeon this time, they claim to have a “great strategy for the enthusiasts”. While this strategy remains undisclosed, we are excited to see what AMD has planned. After all, if AMD wants to gain market share, they need to have a good product to sell.

You can join the discussion on AMD’s changing GPU tactics on the OC3D Forums.