Intel and AMD retain market share amid fast growth

EL SEGUNDO, USA: Intel Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. in the second quarter maintained their market share positions in the global microprocessor business amid fast industry growth, reflecting the intense competition among the two companies, according to iSuppli Corp.

Dominant supplier Intel in the second quarter accounted for 80.4 percent of global microprocessor revenue , down from 80.7 percent in the second quarter of 2009 when the company’s share reached a four-year high.

On a sequential basis, Intel gained 0.1 points of share from the 80.3 percent it held in the first quarter of 2010.

AMD’s share amounted to 11.52 percent in the second quarter of 2010, up 0.04 points from 11.48 the same time a year ago. On a sequential basis, AMD saw its share decline by 0.2 points from the 11.72 percent of share it held in the first quarter of 2010.

The figure presents iSuppli’s estimate of global quarterly microprocessor market share.Source: iSuppli, USA.

Please note that the figure and this release presents revenue for the entire global microprocessor market, including x86, RISC and other types of general-purpose microprocessors. Data is not limited to types of x86 PC microprocessors used in most PCs, even though the figures account for the majority of revenue. Numerical rounding is employed in data expressed within tables.

“The static market share situation might suggest that the second quarter was an uneventful quarter in terms of the competition between the two dominant microprocessor suppliers of Intel and AMD,” said Matthew Wilkins, principal analyst for compute platforms research at iSuppli.

“However, with the market undergoing rapid growth and fast technological development, the fact that the companies have largely retained their positions indicates they are competing furiously for every tenth of a point of market share.”

Global microprocessor revenue in the second quarter of 2010 rose 34 percent from the same period in 2009. The annual increase reflects the PCs market’s dramatic recovery from the dismal conditions seen in the second quarter of 2009, when global PC shipments declined by 4.3 percent compared to a year earlier.

In contrast, PC shipments in the second quarter of 2010 increased by 22.8 percent from the same quarter in 2009.

Meanwhile, technology as measured from the second quarter evolved significantly during the past 12 months. Approximately 38 percent of notebook PC microprocessors shipped in the second quarter were graphics-enabled microprocessors, up significantly from 2009, according to data from iSuppli’s PC Technology Penetration Forecast.

“While market and technology conditions have changed dramatically during the past 12 months, the high level of competition between Intel and AMD has not,” Wilkins noted. “As circumstances continue to evolve in the second half of 2010, expect these two companies to maintain their epic competitive struggle.”

Source: iSuppli, USA.