Posted on Wednesday, November 09 2005 @ 12:01 CET by Thomas De Maesschalck
AMD slightly led Intel in the desktop category in the month of September and due to it sustaining growth in that category, was able to extend its lead across the entire US retail PC category. A graphic of the evolution of the past year can be viewed here.
While AMD's success in the US retail market cannot be ignored, Intel has a solid grasp on the number one spot when it comes to all US consumer PC sales. Direct marketer Dell, the preeminent supplier of PCs in the US consumer market, utilizes Intel processors alone.
Ultimately, the period between Black Friday and Christmas will define the success of the fourth quarter. However, these October sales results, as well as the well-documented rumor that Wal-Mart will offer $398 AMD notebook and desktop PCs on Black Friday, indicates that AMD is in a stronger position to compete with Intel than it has been in past holiday seasons.
Looking forward, one can expect that AMD will attempt to replicate its October success throughout the holiday season. Matt Sargent, Director of Research at Current Analysis states, "AMD did the unthinkable by surpassing Intel in October. Continuing to hold this lead in the holiday season would be a colossal win for the company."
Additional results of the study:
AMD's share of unit sales in the US retail desktop space increased from 52.0% in September to 67.7% in October. AMD's share of unit sales in the US retail notebook space increased from 26.2% in September to 31.5% in October. AMD's October revenue share of retail PC sales (40.1%) trails that of Intel (57.6%) because the average selling price of Intel PCs is significantly higher than AMD PCs.
