AMD’s CPU market has been consistently expanding since the launch of the Ryzen CPUs in 2019. Recently, the chipmaker recorded its highest market share in the x86 processor segment since 2006. According to the latest market data from Mercury Research, AMD has successfully returned to its pre-Bulldozer market state (by revenue) with a share of 16.9% in the overall x86 processor market. The chipmaker still controls less than a quarter of the PC and server market, although data from other surveys such as Steam, Mindfactory, and PassMark (yes, they only represent the enthusiast segment I know) show a much higher share for the underdog. The reason is that these figures represent the share by revenue while those are based on units sold.
At the Barclays event, AMD VP of Global Marketing Ruth Cotter stated that the PC market is going to retain its pandemic-induced growth, with at least 350 million PCs expected to be shipped globally in 2022. A total of 150 laptops and OEM/AIC PCs powered by Ryzen/Radeon processors were launched in 2021. That figure is projected to grow to 200 in the coming year.
Over the last 12 months, AMD’s CPU market (by revenue) share grew by an incredible 2x compared to the previous year. In fact, driven by record sales of Ryzen mobile and desktop processors, Team Red’s market share grew across every month of 2021. In terms of the overall units shipped, AMD’s CPU share also recorded strong sales, growing from quarter to quarter. Although the desktop market saw a few drops in the last couple of quarters, this was offset by consistent growth in the notebook and server segments.
Although the pandemic resulted in a supply-bound market, a combination of premium products and high demand allowed most vendors to make up for the component shortages. Overall, it was a highly conducive environment for PC makers.
In the GPU market, things have been mostly quiet with NVIDIA accounting for nearly 3/4ths of the AIC market. Regardless, AMD managed to regain a small chunk of the market in the last quarter, resetting the segment to nearly pre-pandemic levels. According to Ruth Cotter, the discrete GPU market has been consistently growing over the past 18 months.
AMD’s involvement in this space has been limited, but things have been improving since the launch of the Radeon RX 6000 “RDNA 2” lineup. As supply ramps up, and the next-gen Radeon RX 7000 “RDNA 3” land in the second quarter of 2022, the company’s growth rate is expected to accelerate. As noted by Ruth Cotter, the gaming market is speculated to demonstrate nearly endless demand. AMD will be able to enter the “market regaining mode.”
