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There is no mistaking the market leader, with Intel holding a market share of 82.5 per cent. This is a slight fall, however, from the 82.8 per cent in the same period a year ago.

AMD is one beneficiary, according to the report by CNet, inching

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up to 15.7 per cent (from the 15.6 of a year ago).

The 'Other' group, which includes the likes of Transmeta, increased market share from 1.7 percent to 1.8 per cent. Given the small percentages involved, however, and the margin of error inherent in such research, it is probably best not to read too much into the figures. Interesting though they may be.

Note that the figures include the x86 processors shipped inside Xbox consoles.

'There's a lot of evidence that the third and fourth quarters are both going to be growth quarters as they normally are, seasonally, and pretty good growth quarters at that,' said Dean McCarron, principal analyst at Mercury, quoted by CNet.

'Mobile was the bright spot in a not-so-bright quarter,' he added. 'It's not necessarily a slam dunk, but someone who's looking for a system for basic utility - a lot of them are choosing the notebook versus a desktop.'