AMD overtakes Intel in desktop CPU market share

PassMark PerformanceTest data shows that AMD now has higher market share than Intel in the desktop CPU market.
According to data collected from users who did performance tests through PassMark’s dedicated software, AMD has 50.8% market share compared to 49.2% for Intel.
The last time AMD had been ahead of Intel in terms of market share in Q1 2006, where it reached 53.9% market share.
Since then, Intel dominated the market, reaching a high of nearly 80% in 2016.
AMD’s resurgence began in 2017, when it launched its Ryzen series processors, and has been climbing towards parity with Intel ever since.
The recently-launched 5000-series Ryzen processors have continued AMD’s rise and resulted in the company finally surpassing Intel.
It will be interesting to track how Intel and AMD’s market shares changes in the coming months, particularly given Intel’s struggles with moving its processors to 7nm architecture.
Intel still winning overall
While AMD now leads in the desktop CPU market, Intel still holds the lead in the overall processor market.
Intel boasts 83% of laptop CPU market share as of Q1 2021, as well as a dominant 98.9% in the server industry.
This results in an overall CPU market share of 61.7% for Intel – although AMD’s desktop surge has slashed this from 76.8% in Q1 2019.
How the numbers are determined
PassMark explains that its data is derived from the baselines submitted to it during the periods it outlines in its data.
Quarters are defined according to calendar year rather than the financial year – meaning that Q1 starts on 1 January 2020.
The data only includes x86 processors, as well as those installed into PCs – meaning no other architectures or devices (like gaming consoles) are included in this information.
It is also only reflective of Windows devices and therefore does not account for Apple’s computers, as well as those running Linux.