As pricing pressure heats up in the microprocessor sector, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. is making strides against its competitors, primarily chief rival Intel Corp. According to research firm iSuppli Corp., AMD in the second quarter of 2007 gained 2.5 percentage points on its rivals, compared to the first quarter, and took a 13.4% share of overall microprocessor revenue.
It's still not enough to make a dent on Intel. The chip giant in the second quarter may have suffered a 2 percentage-point decrease in revenue share, but it still commands 78.8% of the market, iSuppli reported.
Still, the second quarter marked a major gain for AMD, since the company has seen its market share decline by nearly 6 points from 16.8% in the third quarter of 2006, to 10.9% in the first quarter this year. Its second-quarter resurgence was due to shipments for notebook, desktop and server microprocessors, despite a decline in the overall microprocessor average selling prices, iSuppli said. Intel has also suffered a decline in its microprocessor ASPs. This week, AMD introduced its newest, fastest high-end chip, codenamed Barcelona, and is banking on that chip in part to help it garner even more market share.
Both microprocessor makers have been doing deals to expand their markets and focus their businesses. On Sept. 10 Intel sold certain assets of its modular communications platform to Radisys Corp., a maker of computer applications, for $25 million plus about $6.76 million in inventory and other unnamed consideration. In July, Intel of Santa Clara, Calif., paid $218.5 million, or $23 a share, for a 2.5% stake in virtual software company VMware Inc., which went public with much fanfare in August. Then in July, AMD invested $7.5 million in Transmeta Corp. in exchange for stock. Transmeta develops chip technologies for other companies and has become increasingly aggressive in enforcing patent rights. —Cheryl Meyer
See Sept. 9 story from SFGate.com
See Sept. 11 brief from TheDeal.com
See Aug. 15 story from TheDeal.com
See July 9 story from Tech Confidential
Tags: AMD, semiconductors
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