Thursday, August 19, 2010
Microprocessor vendor Intel lost share in a market that started to soften in the second quarter, according to market research firm International Data Corp. (IDC). The company predicted PC microprocessor unit growth will be 19.8 percent in 2010 but expressed some reservations about a market that was softening in Q2 and has continued to do so in Q3.
Intel earned 80.7 percent of the market of PC microprocessors in the second quarter of 2010, a quarterly sequential loss of 0.3 percent, IDC said. Intel's main rival, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. captured 19.0 percent of the market, a sequential increase of 0.2 percent, while Via Technologies earned a market share of 0.3 percent, IDC said.
Intel's loss and AMD's gain came against a background of a strong market growth for PCs in the second quarter. Global shipments and revenues for PC microprocessors increased by 3.6 and 6.2 percent, respectively, in the second quarter of 2010 compared to the first quarter of 2010,
The average sequential change in unit shipments between a calendar year's first quarter and its second quarter is an increase of 1.6 percent while revenues decrease by 2.8 percent. So, these increases represent better performance than usual for a second calendar quarter.
In the mobile PC processor sector shipments rose sequentially by 6.5 percent, server processor shipments rose by 6.1 percent and desktop processor unit shipments declined 0.1 percent.
In 2Q10 unit share by form factor, Intel earned 86.1 percent share in the mobile PC processor segment, a loss of 1.7 percent. AMD finished the quarter with 13.7 percent, a gain of 1.6 percent, and Via earned 0.2 percent. In the PC server/workstation processor segment, Intel finished with 93.5 percent market share, a gain of 3.3 percent and AMD earned 6.5 percent, a loss of 3.3 percent. In the desktop PC processor segment, Intel earned 72.2 percent, a gain of 0.5 percent, AMD earned 27.3 percent, a loss of 0.7 percent, and Via earned 0.5 percent.
IDC said that demand for PC microprocessors weakened during the second quarter and is expected to remain weak in August. "Major OEMs cut PC build orders with their contract manufacturers who, in turn, have cut orders for commodity components," said Shane Rau director of Semiconductors: Personal Computing research at IDC, in a statement. "While the PC processor vendors re-iterated their solid outlook during their most recent earnings calls, the softness we've seen ultimately makes us concerned for end demand's pull on processors. Likely, the second half of the year will be seasonal given the early build for Intel's Sandy Bridge and AMD's Fusion architecture launches, but lower than the year-over-year growth seen in the first half of the year. 2011 remains a wildcard in terms of sustainable unit growth."
By: DocMemory
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