AMD processor share inches upward
Chipmaker correcting inventory problems
Follow @infoworldAfter correcting its inventory problems from the end of 2002, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) gained a few percentage points of microprocessor shipment share against runaway leader Intel in the first quarter, according to data from Mercury Research released Monday.
Intel shipped 81.7 percent of all x86 processors sold into the market in the first quarter, a slight decline from its 84.7 percent share of processor shipments in the fourth quarter. AMD's share rose from 13.8 percent in the fourth quarter to 16.6 percent in the first quarter as it cleared out the remains of an inventory backlog, said Dean McCarron, principal analyst at Mercury Research, based in Cave Creek, Ariz.
The figures in this study include all x86 desktop, mobile, and server processors shipped to distributors, manufacturers and end users.
This includes processors that Intel makes for Microsoft's Xbox gaming system, McCarron said.
In 2002, AMD overestimated demand for its products in the second half of the year, and was left with an overstock of inventory as its chips sat in factories and distribution warehouses. That overstock has cleared out, and by next quarter, the market share numbers should accurately reflect the makeup of the market, McCarron said.
The first quarter was a little stronger than expected; the first half of the year is traditionally down compared to the third and fourth quarters, McCarron said.
Intel's Centrino package, consisting of the Pentium M processor, a new chipset, and a wireless chip, was the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company's biggest launch of the first quarter, although it happened late in March. Intel also released new Xeon server processors in the quarter, and increased the clock speeds of other members of its lineup.
AMD launched the Athlon XP 3000+ processor in the first quarter, its first chip based on the new Barton core. That core design increased the amount of cache available on the processor. AMD, based in Sunnyvale, Calif., also launched several mobile processors for a wide variety of notebooks.
