AMD and Intel maintain CPU market shares in Q4

San Mateo (CA) – AMD and Intel apparently have ended up in a much more stable CPU market position that what we have seen in the early parts of 2007. Both companies saw their Q4 share in the CPU market remain almost flat over Q3, according to IDC.

The market research firm estimates that microprocessor shipments reached new record levels for the second quarter in a row, growing 8.5% sequentially. Total microprocessor revenue for the quarter was $8.7 billion, according to IDC.

Average selling prices “was very stable” in the quarter and the price war between AMD and Intel appears to be largely over and both companies have somewhat stable market shares. Despite AMD’s belief that the company has gained share during the fourth quarter, IDC found that the company actually may have lost 0.4% and finished the year at 23.1%. Intel, on the other hand, gained 0.4% and was estimated at 76.7%.

AMD’s loss was a bit more dramatic in the mobile segment : AMD is estimated to have dropped 1.1% to 17.8% share, while Intel gained 1.1% to 81.9%. However, AMF rebounded in the server market, gaining 0.6% to 14.6%, while Intel saw its share declining by 0.6% to 85.6%, IDC said. Shares in the desktop PC segment, remained the same at 72.1% for Intel and 27.7% for AMD.

For the full year 2007, total worldwide PC processor shipments grew 12.6% compared to 2006 ; total revenues climbed 1.7% to $30.55 billion. The disparity of unit growth and revenue growth indicates a strong price erosion that occurred early in the year 2007, IDC noted.