Intel regains market share against AMD

This is a situation that will puzzle some commentators. For the first time in 3 years, Intel is regaining market share against AMD in the desktop segment. A situation measured by Mercury Research over the 4th quarter of 2020 and which seems to continue into early 2021.

For the first time in 3 years Intel is regaining ground against AMD

However, we should agree on one thing: the situation over the last few months has not been consistent on the market, and if Intel is turning its head around, it is not, for the moment, because of its technological prowess, but rather because of its competitor’s weaknesses.

Intel VS AMD: the war is not won

So even though AMD broke records during the year 2020 and benefited from the explosion of demand related to the health crisis, it seems that Intel has benefited a little more than its competitor. Indeed, AMD is now regularly in shortage on its CPUs and GPUs since the end of last year. These shortages led to a scarcity of AMD’s chips during the holiday shopping season in the fourth quarter, while Intel’s chips were widely available and often sold at aggressive prices. In one of his last interventions, the now former CEO of Intel, Bob Swan, explained that the company had increased its production units of PC processors by 33% in the fourth quarter. A statement that confirmed that Intel had managed to increase its production of chips in giant steps in recent years. A situation that had made him suffer for months.

Intel: Thanks to the production tool rather than to innovation

A few lessons need to be learned from this, while until recently, Intel’s integrated production model was the subject of debate among some analysts. In reality, it is the advantages of this integrated model that allow the company to have much finer control over its supply chain and production tool. Tom’s Hardware was able to materialize the Mercury Research data, and Intel was even able to do well on laptops during the same period.

AMD VS Intel market share

Finally, while we can see that Intel has stopped the bleeding, we will remember thatAMD is now ahead, a first in many years. But those who have condemned Intel will have to wait a little longer, and a lot of things are going to happen in the coming months.