Some interesting trends have been observed in the CPU market (courtesy of Sravan Kundojjala). The general sentiment across the industry would have you believe that AMD is continuously gaining share across all segments. However, a closer look at the numbers reveals more complex strategies at play. The desktop PC market has been AMD’s darling since the launch of the Ryzen family back in 2011. Since then, Team Red has been eating away at Intel’s share consistently, conquering over a quarter of the overall market as per various analysts.
The above chart supports those figures. Intel’s desktop processor shipments fell continuously from 2014 to 2020, seeing a mild recovery in 2021 courtesy of the Alder Lake launch. However, what most of us didn’t realize is that the average selling price (ASP) of Intel’s desktop CPUs has also been going up each year. (get Adipex) This means that even though Team Blue sold fewer processors the average price of each chip was higher over time despite increasing competition from AMD. This pattern should continue through 2022 as already noted in previous posts.
Things were exactly the opposite in the notebook market. Intel sold a lot more mobile chips in the last two years but they were significantly cheaper compared to their predecessors. The primary reason behind this is the influx of a new Ryzen lineup each year including Picasso, Renoir, Cezanne, and more recently Rembrandt. Between 2011 and 2021, the ASP of Intel’s notebook PCs fell by 15%, or >10% if you consider the years between 2019 and 2022.
This should continue in the coming years with both chipmakers coming closer and closer to gaining market parity with each passing year. With that said, AMD does seem more focused on the high-volume notebook and high-margin server markets. Desktop is clearly not a priority anymore.
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