AMD closing in on Intel in desktop CPU market share
For the first time since Q1 2006, AMD and Intel are essentially neck-and-neck when it comes to desktop CPU market share, according to data collected by PassMark.
At the time of writing, AMD's desktop CPU market share stands at 49.8 percent, with Intel at 50.2 percent.
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For the single quarter of Q1 2006, AMD briefly leapt ahead of Intel, before sinking into a decline that continued until 2017.
However, since 2017, AMD has slowly but surely been gaining ground on Intel, and looks set to decisively overtake the chip giant over the coming quarter.
When it comes to laptops and servers, the story is different though. For laptops, Intel dominates AMD four to one, with the gap being far bigger when it comes to the server market.
It's worth remembering that PassMark data is collected when benchmark tests are run, so the data is skewed towards gaming systems, and this data in no way correlates to chip sales. In fact, Passmark make it clear that the data represents the "installed base from the last 5 to 10 years" and that "large monthly swings in CPU sales will take time to convert the installed base."
But still, it's an indication that AMD is gaining ground on Intel in the important -- and lucrative -- gaming market.