AMD chips away at Intel market share

Microprocessor giant loses market share in first quarter of 2009, as AMD gains 2.3 per cent

Intel suffered a 2.5 point decrease in share for the first quarter of 2009

AMD reversed its run of quarterly market share declines as it ate into Intel's lead in the first quarter of 2009.

The number-two chip maker saw its share of the spoils rise by 2.3 per cent to 12.8 per cent on an annual comparison. After its recent good run, Intel suffered a 2.5 point decrease in share, with its portion of global revenues falling to 79.1 per cent.

Matthew Wilkins, iSuppli’s principal analyst for compute platforms research, said: “After losing share to Intel on a sequential basis during three out of four quarters in 2008, AMD managed to reverse the trend in the first quarter of 2009.

“AMD increased its allocation of global microprocessor revenue due to strong performances in each area of its microprocessor portfolio, particularly in its Notebook products.

After a slight decline in 2007, Intel gained share throughout 2008, with its portion of global revenue rising gradually from 79 per cent in the first quarter of 2008 to 81.6 per cent in the fourth quarter.

Wilkins added: “Intel widened its lead in 2008, partly due to its Atom microprocessor, which has achieved major success in the fast-growing netbook PC market.

“However, the strength of Intel’s broad product line in microprocessors for desktops, servers and notebooks was the major factor driving its success.”

Regardless of AMD’s rise in market share, both vendors suffered revenue declines due to the recession.

Global microprocessor revenues are set to fall 15.8 per cent to $26.8bn (£16.2bn) for the full year, said iSuppli.