The Rise of AMD: Intel's Laptop Market Share Drops by 20% as AMD Takes Over

Intel’s market share is dwindling as its competitor, AMD,  continues to gain ground in the processor market. According to Stocklytics.com, Intel’s market share shrunk by 20%, while AMD gained significantly, controlling nearly 22% of the global processor market by Q3’24. 

The site’s financial analyst, Edith Reads, comments:

Intel’s manufacturing fumble in recent years has resulted in long delays in product availability, giving room for AMD to take over significant portions of its long-held market shares.

Stocklytics financial analyst Edith Reads

Intel Vs. AMD

AMD has become a cost-effective alternative to Intel, delivering competitive performance at cheaper costs. The price advantage it holds has contributed significantly to its growing popularity among budget-conscious consumers and businesses.

AMD’s Ryzen CPUs, notably the Ryzen™ Threadripper™ PRO Series, have received acclaim for their multi-core performance and energy efficiency. They are ideal for multitasking and demanding processing tasks and remain considerably cheaper than similar Intel offerings. 

Intel CPUs excel primarily in single-core performance; however, the i7 and i9 models perform admirably in multitasking thanks to Intel’s Hyper-Threading technology, which allows each core to manage two threads simultaneously. However, Intel CPUs typically have fewer cores and threads compared to AMD’s Ryzen series, which can limit their effectiveness in heavy multi-threaded applications. 

On the other hand, Intel CPUs come with additional features such as integrated graphics, which can be advantageous for users, particularly gamers who prefer to avoid investing in a separate graphics card.

Intel and AMD’s Market Share

From Q3’16 to Q2’19, Intel’s market share was 91%, accounting for the most sold CPUs worldwide, and AMD’s market share was subtly averaging 8% at the time. 

However, since then, Intel’s market share has dwindled to 71.9 % in Q3 ’24, and while it remains the global leader in processor sales, the corporation is subtly losing its hold to AMD. 

In Q1 ’24, Intel’s market share perched at 77.6%, while AMD held 20.4% of the global CPU market share. AMD now controls 21.7% of the market share, close to a 5% rise from Q1’s results, while Intel’s market share slumps by 7.7% from Q1.

Intel’s Manufacturing Alterations 

Intel designs and manufactures its computer chips, distinguishing itself from competitors like AMD, which focuses solely on design and lets Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company manufacture them. 

In recent years, however, Intel’s manufacturing process has tumbled, facing significant challenges, particularly with its 10-nanometer (nm) node process. Its manufacturing failures resulted in slugged product delivery, allowing AMD to gain a notable market advantage.

To address its shaken market standings, Intel plans to outsource TSMC’s advanced 3nm process for the main compute tile in its upcoming Lunar Lake laptop CPUs, ensuring these chips meet performance and efficiency targets. AMD will also use this same 3nm process for its new laptop chips, which will be launched later this month.

Moreover, Intel is on track to release the new Intel 20A node, set for this year’s Arrow Lake desktop CPUs, and the Intel 18A node, expected early next year, potentially closing the gap between it and TSMC’s offerings. Panther Lake, scheduled for release in 2025, is set to use Intel 18A nodes.