Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD), a leading multinational computer chip manufacturer, recently stated that its revenue from the crypto and blockchain sector will likely be “near zero” in Q3 2018. This, after AMD’s earnings from the crypto industry skyrocketed earlier this year, primarily due to the rising demand for graphics cards used in mining cryptocurrencies.
AMD’s CEO Lisa Su commented on the chipmaker’s expected decline, by noting that:
For Q2, we were approximately 6% of revenue for blockchain. For Q3, we’re planning very little blockchain.
Declining GPU Sales
A drop in the sales of AMD’s graphics cards (GPUs), which are used to mine various digital currencies, could partially be attributed to a substantial decline in the market capitalization of the crypto market. Notably though, the price of most cryptocurrencies has recently begun to rise again, with Bitcoin (BTC) currently trading at above $8,100.
Notably, the flagship cryptocurrency dropped below $6,000 toward the end of June, and is currently down nearly 40% from its all-time high of nearly $20,000, according to data from CryptoCompare.
Despite the expected decline, AMD added that revenue from its newly-designed Ryzen processors and large data centers should make up for the losses. The chipmaker’s chief financial officer (CFO) Devinder Kumar noted that “graphics revenue was down primarily driven by blockchain sales partially offset by stronger data center sales.”
Kumar also pointed out that AMD introduced “Forty-four consumer and commercial Ryzen-based desktops and notebooks” this year. He added that the company expects to launch “a total of 60 Ryzen-based systems” by the end of 2018, in order to meet consistent customer demand. Per AMD’s executives, this should help generate a sizable revenue for the multinational firm during Q3 2018.
A Crypto-Driven Correction
Notably, the multinational investment bank UBS issued a warning in April on the falling prices of cryptocurrencies, noting these could result in a substantial revenue loss for AMD, even more so than its competing chipmaker Nvidia. UBS had also stated that Nvidia’s revenue streams consisted of “its coin mining SKU so AMD would be net/net more exposed to a crypto-driven correction in the GPU market.”
Back in February, CryptoGlobe reported that cryptocurrency miners had been increasingly buying graphics cards made by AMD and Nvidia. In fact, online retailers were quickly running out of stock due to a large number of orders for GPUs.
