Intel vs. AMD: Why the Market Share Number Is Misleading

AMD (AMD) just hit a milestone that would have seemed unlikely a few years ago. For the first time, it controls more than 30% of the market for x86 client CPUs, the chips that run desktops and laptops. According to Mercury Research, AMD's share reached 30.3% in the second quarter, up from just 21.1% two years ago. Intel (INTC) still holds the rest at 69.7%, but that share has been dropping lately. AMD gained ground in desktops, laptops, and servers all at once. Although AMD's desktop share climbed to 34.9%, the desktop market itself shrank more than 20% last year. The fall was primarily due to soaring memory prices that have made new PCs more expensive. AMD gained share because its shipments held up better than Intel's. So this was a share gain in a shrinking market rather than a demand boom.

The chips for PCs are the least profitable part of this rivalry, and the market is barely growing. The part that actually pays the bills is the data center market, and that is where AMD looks even better. Its data center revenue more than doubled in the second quarter to $6.7 billion, and its server share has climbed to 34.5%. On the other hand, Intel keeps slipping. AMD's CEO Lisa Su expects data center sales to double again in 2027, with hyperscalers like Amazon (AMZN), Microsoft (MSFT), and Alphabet's (GOOG) (GOOGL) Google expanding their use of AMD's chips. This ties back to something I covered recently. Agentic AI is driving a fresh surge in CPU demand, and I still think that helps Intel's turnaround. But it is helping AMD even more, turning the data center into the segment both companies most want to win. The 30% client figure also undersells AMD. It sells more premium chips, like its X3D gaming processors and EPYC server parts. So AMD has a bigger share of revenue than its unit count suggests. Intel keeps most of its lead because of how hard it is for customers to switch. Buyers and PC makers built their systems around Intel for years, and switching takes time, testing, and money. That lock-in is a big reason Intel's share stays as high as it does, even after a decade of losing its performance edge.