What 52% Really Is

Some people have written me mentioning a report saying that AMD outsold Intel for a week.

Here’s the actual article with all the details, BTW.

What it actually says is that AMD desktop computers outsold Intel desktop computers in the U.S. retail market for a week.

That means sales in computer stores and places like Best Buy. It doesn’t include mail-order or online sales or corporate purchases, and obviously doesn’t include the rest of the world.

What the report doesn’t say is that U.S. retail sales has always been a strong point for AMD. Having a marketshare of 40-ish% in this particular market is pretty normal for them, so 52%, while good, is hardly earth-shattering news.

The article linked above goes on to point out that the overall worldwide marketshare (that means everything) of AMD vs. Intel for the first quarter:

AMD: 14.9%
Intel: 83.6%

14.9% is historically on the low side for AMD under normal circumstances. They did worse when they had to curtail production a while back due to excessive inventory, but during the TBird era, marketshare was up around 22-23%.

Then again, folks like Hector Ruiz have been saying that getting a decent price now takes priority over sheer marketshare at AMD, so one would expect a somewhat lower marketshare figure than during the Jerry Sanders era.

Sorry if I burst any of your bubbles, folks, but that’s all it is, a bubble.

Ed