iSuppli, a market research firm, said Intel stumbled badly against rival AMD in 2006, as its market share fell to the lowest level in six years.

Intel revenue last year fell 11.1% to $31.5 billion, iSuppli said. On the other hand, AMD experienced a 91.6% jump in revenue.

Intel's revenue troubles were due to a "bleak performance" in its core PC microprocessor and flash-memory businesses, the researcher said. The sales decline brought the company within less than a half percentage point above its 2004 sales level, which means it wiped out virtually all its gains in 2005. In addition, the company's market share fell to 12.1%, its lowest level since before 2000.

For AMD, on the other hand, it was the best of times, as the company experienced a huge increase in revenue, which was partly due to the $5.4 billion acquisition of ATI Technologies. AMD, however, also made strong gains in the microprocessor market. As a result, the company moved from the 15th largest chipmaker in 2005 to the eighth in 2006.

Nevertheless, the battle is far from over. Intel has launched a strong counterattack against AMD this year.

By: DocMemory
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