CPU giants locked in stalemate

Neither Intel or AMD are making significant market gains, say analysts

Chip rivals are neck and neck

Chip rivals Intel and AMD are locked in stalemate with virtually flat market share growth for the fourth quarter of 2007, says researcher IDC.

Intel’s share of the overall processor sector was 76.7 per cent, up 0.4 per cent from the previous period, whilst AMD took 23.1 per cent, down 0.4 per cent over the same timeframe.

AMD fared slightly worse in the mobile chip market - down 1.1 per cent to 17.8 per cent, with Intel up by the same amount to 81.9 per cent.

But AMD hit back on server processors, gaining 0.6 per cent share to take 14.6 per cent overall, with Intel down to 85.6 per cent.

Market share for desktop chips remained identical to the previous quarter - 72.1 per cent for Intel and 27.7 per cent for AMD.

But both companies saw overall market growth, with processor shipments in the three months growing by 8.5 per cent, and revenues up 9.6 per cent to $8.7bn (£4.4bn).