MARKET WATCH - PII dominates chip markets

Intel's Pentium II chips are leading the field in all areas, while the iMac's success has spurred desktop growth for Apple's G3.

DESKTOP SUMMARY

chips are leading the field in all areas, while the iMac's success has spurred desktop growth for Apple's G3. Intel's Pentium II processor leads the desktop market with 87 per cent market share, a five point rise on the figure six months previous.

Apple's G3 has overtaken the Celeron in the number two spot, with 6.5 per cent market share. Apple's machines are experiencing an increase in popularity thanks to the success of the iMac. The Celeron chip has been relegated to third position.

The older Pentium models have almost disappeared from the market. Pentium MMX still accounts for more PCs than Cyrix, AMD's K6-2 and Intel's PIII which barely register in the March figures.

NOTEBOOK SUMMARY

The mobile Pentium II is the best-selling processor in the notebook sector with more than 80 per cent market share that almost doubled between October 1998 and March 1999.

The Pentium MMX takes second place, with 14 per cent market share. Although this is an older processor and has lost share to the Mobile Pentium II, it features in B5 footprint notebooks, such as Fujitsu's Biblo.

The mobile Celeron chip is slowly gaining ground, with 2.6 per cent market share for March, giving it the edge over the G3 by a fraction of a point.

SERVER SUMMARY

The Pentium II is the most popular chip, with 76 per cent market share, an increase of more than 15 points on October 1998.

Intel's Xeon chip is increasing in popularity, gaining 10 points in market share since October 1998 and accounting for 12 per cent of the market in March this year.

The older Pentium Pro has been losing market share and represents only 5.3 per cent, as its share has been swallowed up by the Pentium II.