New data from Mercury Research again revealed mobility to be king in the second quarter of 2009.
 
Reporting market share for X86 processors, which includes x86 notebooks, desktops and server CPUs, Mercury found the overall market to be up by 13.8 percent, compared to the first quarter, though down 2.9 percent on the year.
 
Mobile CPU shipments were up by the most, which Mercury attributes to Intel’s recovery from low shipment numbers in the first quarter.
 
“Due to Intel’s recovery, they shipped more units. This diluted AMD’s share gains from last quarter, causing AMD’s share to drop almost back to [fourth quarter 2008] levels,” wrote Mercury analyst Dean McCarron, in a statement.
 
In the first quarter, excess inventory, which was used to build systems, impacted sales. In the second quarter, however, inventories were depleted, enabling sales to recover, reports McCarron, who says Intel, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and VIA Technologies all saw unit shipments increase.
 
Mercury reports that Intel’s market share for the second quarter of 2009 was 80.5 percent, which compares to 78.2 percent in the previous quarter and 80.0 percent a year earlier.
 
AMD market share fell to 18.7 percent in the second quarter of 2009, from 20.9 percent in the previous quarter. In the same quarter a year earlier, it was at 18.8 percent.
 
And finally VIA market share grew to 0.9 percent in the second quarter, compared to 0.8 percent in the previous quarter and 1.3 percent a year earlier.
 
“This appears to be the first quarter in some time that is reflecting close to actual demand, suggesting that the PC processor market (and ultimately PCs) is roughly flat with pre-crisis 2008 volumes,” wrote McCarron.
 
In an Aug. 3 report, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) also compared the PC market to 2008 numbers, with SAI President George Scalise writing, “Consensus estimates for unit sales PCs are now in the range of minus 5 percent to flat compared to 2008, whereas earlier forecasts were projecting year-on-year unit declines of 9 to 12 percent.”
 
In keeping with its market share dip, on July 21 AMD reported a loss for the second half of 2009, though was optimistic about the likelihood of finishing the year strong.
 
Market leader Intel, however, was pleased to announce revenue of $8 billion and $1 billion of profit; though this fell to a loss after factoring in the European Commission’s $1.45 billion fine for antitrust violations, which AMD said hurt its ability to compete in the market.