AMD Hits Record Market Share Intel Rise in PCs

AMD apparently recently increased its market share for x86 CPUs to a new all-time high. However, the company benefited not from the increasing sales of chips for notebooks or desktops, as some might think, but from the demand for game consoles.

if Tom’s hardware AMD achieved a 25.6 percent market share in x86-based processors in the last quarter of 2021, based on figures from market research firm Mercury Research. With that, the manufacturer surpassed its last record of 25.3 percent, which was set 15 years ago.

PC Market: AMD market share drops, but sales increase

Intel still has a market share of almost 75 percent if you look at the total market. Especially with desktop and notebook CPUs, the US group was able to expand its dominant position even more recently, as AMD lost some market share.

Most recently, AMD’s market share for PC CPUs was just 16.2 percent — a 3.1 percent year-over-year decline. Ultimately, AMD mainly owes its record to sales of server and console chips, as demand in these segments is still huge. The company is also struggling with production bottlenecks, as the chip crisis does not stop at AMD either. While Intel uses its own manufacturing facilities, AMD relies on the capabilities of contract manufacturer TSMC, which has long been fully utilized by customers such as Apple, Nvidia, and Qualcomm.

AMD is therefore clearly targeting certain product groups that have higher profit margins than desktop and notebook SoCs. Corporate chief Lisa Su recently confirmed this in conversations with financial analysts, when she explained that revenue share in the client x86 market could be expanded recently. So AMD sells its PC chips at higher average prices, allowing the company to make higher profits and lose market share.