INDICATORS - Chips - shelf space

This week's Context tracks the evolution of retail shelf space, according to chip brand, from November 1997 to April.

Shelf space values are calculated as a percentage of the total shelfrding to chip brand, from November 1997 to April. space occupied by chip brands.

Please note that the percentages in the Total row have been rounded to 100. The Other column includes all chips whose percentage of shelf space was not significant. This can vary from one country to another.

 UK
 SHELF SPACE    NOV 97   DEC 97     JAN     FEB      MAR      APR
 603              3.52     5.03    3.77    2.80     1.62     0.7
 6x86             1.76     1.68    2.64    1.75     0.65     -
 AMD-K6           -        -       -       9.09    12.34    15.38
 Pentium          3.52     2.79    1.89    1.05     0.65     0.7
 Pentium II      12.32    15.08   15.85   29.37    35.71    39.86
 Pentium MMX     76.76    73.74   71.7    53.5     48.38    42.66
 Other            2        2       4       3        -        1
 Total          100      100     100     100      100      100
 
 CHIP            TOTAL
 603              2.94
 6x86             1.5
 AMD-K6           5.87
 Pentium          1.77
 Pentium II      24.23
 Pentium MMX     61.64
 Other            2
 Total          100

Pentium II gradually replaced the Pentium MMX, growing from 12 per cent in November to almost 40 per cent in April.

AMD-K6 shelf space grew rapidly, especially since its introduction in Compaq's and IBM's new ranges.

 Germany
 
 SHELF SPACE    NOV 97   DEC 97     JAN     FEB      MAR      APR
 6x86             4.17     4.4     3.77    2.61     3.36     2.54
 AMD-K6           7.64     8.79    6.92    7.84     8.05    11.86
 Multimedia GX    5.56     3.3     4.4     5.23     2.01     0.85
 Pentium         15.28    13.19    6.92    3.92     2.01     0.85
 Pentium II      15.97    13.19   21.38   34.64    46.31    43.22
  Pentium MMX    47.92    51.65   55.35   44.44    36.91    39.83
 Other            3        5       1       1        1        1
 Total          100      100     100     100      100      100
 
 CHIP            TOTAL
 6x86             3.44
 AMD-K6           8.35
 Multimedia GX    3.69
 Pentium          6.76
 Pentium II      29.73
 Pentium MMX     45.95
 Other            1
 Total          100

Pentium II processors outnumbered Pentium MMX by March.

AMD-K6 processors also increased their presence from almost seven per cent in January to 11 per cent in April.

Cyrix maintained its presence with its 6x86 chip.

 France
 SHELF SPACE    NOV 97   DEC 97     JAN     FEB      MAR      APR
 603              5.55     4.89    5.05    5.27     3.16     3.07
 AMD-K6           3.36     4.28    5.05    7.27     9.65    14.42
 Multimedia GX    3.87     3.36    2.79    2.18     0.67     0.31
 Pentium         14.29     9.17    8.89    5.64     3.83     1.84
 Pentium II       4.37     8.26   12.02   20.55    21.8     26.38
 Pentium MMX     64.03    66.06   62.02   53.82    56.07    51.53
 Other            4        4       4       6        4        3
 Total          100      100     100     100      100      100
 
 CHIP            TOTAL
 603              4.57
 AMD-K6           7
 Multimedia GX    2.25
 Pentium          7.6
 Pentium II      15.2
 Pentium MMX     59
 Other            4
 Total          100

Pentium MMX accounted for more than half of retail shelf space.

Pentium II chips increased their presence in terms of percentage of shelf space, reaching more than 25 per cent in April.

The Classic Pentium came to the end of its lifecycle with less than two per cent by the end of April.

AMD-K6 chips reached 14 per cent of shelf space in April.

 Netherlands
 SHELF SPACE    NOV 97   DEC 97     JAN     FEB      MAR      APR
 603              0.81     -       1.11    2.31     2.58     2.32
 604              -        -       0.28    0.87     0.94     0.77
 G3/750           -        -       -       0.58     1.41     1.54
 AMD-K6           9.7      2.69    2.78    5.2      9.39    10.42
 Multimedia GX    3.23     4.3     4.17    4.05     1.41     0.39
 Pentium         10.51     9.14    7.5     6.36     3.76     3.86
 Pentium II       6.47    13.98   19.72   29.77    33.33    39.38
 Pentium MMX     68.73    69.89   63.61   50.58    47.18    41.31
 Other            1        -       1       -        -        -
 Total          100      100     100     100      100      100
 
 CHIP            TOTAL
 603              1.64
 604              0.51
 G3/750           0.62
 AMD-K6           6.98
 Multimedia GX    2.87
 Pentium          6.72
 Pentium II      24.02
 Pentium MMX     55
 Other            -
 Total          100

Pentium II accounted for only 41 per cent of shelf space in April.

AMD-K6 chips maintained a stable position during the past six months.

With the exception of the Motorola 603 chip, other chips faded out quickly.