Intel hammers AMD in PC processor war

 

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By Barry Collins

Posted on 29 Nov 2007 at 09:19

Intel has put a terrible 2006 behind it and reimposed its dominance on the PC processor market in 2007, according to the latest chip market research.

Intel's chip revenue is expected to rise 7.7% in 2007 to reach total sales of $33.97 billion, according to the preliminary rankings from research firm iSuppli. AMD, meanwhile, is expected to deliver a sales decline of 22.7% for the year.

After losing the performance crown last year, Intel has fought back admirably, with its range of dual- and quad-core processors. By contrast, AMD struggled to get its first quad-core chip on to the market, with its Barcelona processors only arriving late this summer, with supply still limited.

"Throughout most of the year, Intel successfully defended much of the market share that it won from AMD in the first quarter in the PC microprocessor segment due to the success of its lines of dual- and quad-core chips," says Dale Ford, vice president of market intelligence at iSuppli. "This represents a major reversal of fortune compared to 2006, when AMD had the advantage with its popular dual-core microprocessors, allowing it to gain share from Intel."

Intel far outstripped the average industry growth rate of 4.4%, to claims a 12.5% share of the market overall. AMD, on the other hand, slips out of the top ten of worldwide semiconductor manufacturers following its poor performance.