Intel loses server market share but climbs in PCs
Intel Corp., working to regain its edge in processor technology, lost more ground to rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc. in the lucrative server-chip industry during the fourth quarter but took back some market share in personal computers.
Altogether, AMD reached a record high of 25.6% share in processors in the period, including custom chips for game consoles and semiconductors for the so-called Internet of Things, according to Mercury Research.
That surpassed a previous high of 25.3% set in 2006.
Intel chips still account for most of the market, but the company doesn’t have the technological supremacy that it once held.
That’s led customers to seek alternatives, whether it’s AMD processors or chips of their own design.
Intel Chief Executive Officer Pat Gelsinger has promised to reverse gains made by AMD with new products that will outperform its longtime rival.
But the PC chip market has been booming, which is good news for both Intel and AMD.
Revenue from their types of chips surged 11% to $74 billion in 2021, Mercury found.
Chips made using Arm Ltd.’s technology also grew, bringing the total industry to 500 million units in 2021.
AMD enjoyed strong demand for game consoles made by Sony Corp. and Microsoft Corp., a market it dominates. Its share of the server segment rose to 10.7% in the fourth quarter, up 3.6 percentage points from a year earlier.
Intel once controlled more than 99% of the industry.
In desktop PCs, Intel’s share of the market rose to 83.8%. It was 78.4% in laptops.
Arm-based chips, meanwhile, were once a tiny niche of the PC processor market.
But Apple Inc. switched its Mac line over to that type of semiconductor, giving the category a boost. The market share of such chips nearly tripled from a year earlier to 9.5% in the fourth quarter.
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