14 DAY TRIAL // According to one of the more recent studies completed by IDC, the worldwide demand for central processing units based on the x86 architecture "achieved all-time record levels for a single quarter" during the fourth quarter of 2009. What is especially notable about the past quarter, however, is the fact that Advanced Micro Devices managed to snatch away some of Intel's market share.
Compared to the corresponding quarter in 2008, microprocessor shipments went up by 31.3 percent during Q4 2009. AMD gained share in both the desktop and laptop processor segments, thanks to its "willingness to be aggressive on price" and its newer and faster laptop processors, according to Shane Rau, director of semiconductor research at IDC. More specifically, AMD launched high-quality processors in the Turion II X2 and Athlon lines back in September, after it had recorded huge gains following the rapid decline of Intel Atom shipments during the first quarter.
These processors released by AMD were able to propel the overall shipments, enabling the increase in market share, because they were part of platforms that had improvements in both the area of graphics capabilities as well as that of power efficiency. Intel only recently refreshed its CPU offering for the mobile segment.
"Compared to 3Q09, the modest rise in shipments in 4Q09 indicates that the market is returning to normal seasonal patterns," Shane Rau, director of Semiconductors: Personal Computing research at IDC, added. "Compared to 4Q08, the huge rise in shipments indicates that the market has put the recession behind it. Both comparisons indicate that the PC industry anticipates improvement in PC end demand in 2010."
The report arrived at the conclusion that the sequential increase in marketing performance for mobile, server and desktop CPUs was of 11.7%, 14.1% and 4.8%. At the same time, the average selling price rose by 6.7% compared to the third quarter. The end-result was Intel holding an 80.5% share of the market (less by 0.6% on-quarter), whereas AMD gained 0.7%, for a total of 19.4%.
For the full year of 2009, Intel leads with a 79.7% share, followed by AMD with 20.1% and VIA, which, despite also posting a small gain, still holds slightly less than 3%.
CPU shipments are expected to continue rising, for a total predicted increase of 15.1% during 2010, compared to last year.