Advanced Micro Devices climbed to its best quarter in the past two years in terms of processor sales, an analyst said Monday.
Analyst firm Mercury Research found that AMDs unit share of the microprocessor market reached 16.6 percent, its highest in eight quarters. Intel, meanwhile, saw its share drop from 83.7 percent a year ago to 82.2 percent in the most recent quarter.
AMDs sharp surge was, in part, making up for lost ground. AMDs share during the fourth quarter of 2003 was its lowest in the past eight quarters, at 14.7 percent, noted Dean McCarron, an analyst with Mercury Research.
Both Intel and AMD stole share from the “other category,” historically made up by Via Technologies and Transmeta, McCarron said. However, with Transmetas recent decision to focus on existing customers and not new processor design, both all three competitors could steal market share in the quarters to come.
Intel fared well in laptops, McCarron said, while AMDs strength lay in value desktops, where its Sempron processor began taking hold. Both AMD and Intel had strong server activity, McCarron said.