AMD Surges To 36% Desktop CPU Share To Chip Away At Intel's Big Lead

AMD continues to make strides in chipping away at Intel's dominant market share lead in the x86 CPU space. According to the latest data from Mercury Research, total x86 processor shipments for the fourth quarter actually declined, which the market research firm highlighted as unusual, given that the highest sequential total unit growth of the year typically occurs in the final quarter of the year. Even so, AMD saw some impressive gains in multiple segments.

Starting with desktop CPUs (excluding IoT), AMD increased its share to 36.4% compared to 33.6% in the previous quarter. Even more impressive is that AMD's desktop CPU share is up nearly 10% from a year ago, when it was holding steady at 26.9%.

Meanwhile, Intel still has a big lead, though it continues to give up ground to its rival. In the same quarter a year ago, Intel's desktop ...