Intel, AMD Fiercely Fighting For Market Share

Blue vs. Green.

According to iSuppli, Intel finished 2010 with 81.0% revenue share, which was up 0.4 points from 80.6% in 2009, while AMD was down 0.8 points to 11.4%. Sandy Bridge appeared to help Intel boost market share as the Q4 revenue share was up to 81.5%, while AMD was down to 10.9% and is in danger of dropping into the single digits. 

The apparently uneventful market development could suggest that both companies are somewhat happy with what they have, even if I can still remember AMD targeting about 30% of the market just five years ago. However, it could be exactly the opposite as well: iSuppli noted that the two manufacturers are fighting for every dollar in the market: The total processor market (including RISC and other general purpose processors) was about $40 billion in 2010 - about 25% more than in 2009.

Both AMD and Intel are trying to catch up in the smartphone and tablet race. AMD fired its CEO Dirk Meyer and COO Bob Rivet in an effort to realign the company, while Intel just kicked Anand Chandrasekher, who was in charge of the firm's Ultra Mobility business, to the curb. iSuppli said that about 17.4 million tablets may have been shipped in 2010 - up from virtually nothing in 2009. It's a market Intel and AMD are not competing in yet and if the general predictions of 240 million shipped tablets by 2014 (iSuppli) are true, then it is a big opportunity for the two - an opportunity that could shift market shares again.