However, Mercury Research analysts add that the quarter was defined by inventory adjustments, so the marketshare figures do not necessarily reflect the actual state of the market or market share. The research firm says processor makers have sold off most of their excess inventory, and expects the market is ready for positive growth.
PC processor sales declined 8.3 percent in the first three months of the year compared to the last quarter of 2008, said Dean McCarron, principal of Mercury. "The quarter-on-quarter decline is only slightly worse than the average seasonal drop of 7.4 percent," McCarron said.Source: EE Times
Notebook processors declined "far more" than desktop or server chips in the period. "Without the mobile downturn, the first quarter would have been much stronger than seasonal," he said.