Worldwide PC CPU shipments grew 14.3% sequentially to reach record levels in the third quarter of 2007, according to IDC. Consequently, worldwide CPU revenues rose 14.8% to US$7.95 billion during the same period.
Shipments of processors designed for mobile PCs continued to lead the market, growing 26.6% in the third quarter, reflecting considerable worldwide demand for mobile PCs in the second half of the year. Shipments of processors for desktop PCs and for PC servers also fared rather well, increasing by 7.7% and 4.6%, respectively, said IDC.
"The third quarter of 2007 was the second quarter in a row to exceed expectations in terms of PC processor unit shipments," said Shane Rau, director of IDC's Semiconductors: Personal Computing program. "We attribute the market's performance to Intel's and AMD's aggressive pricing for their new platforms, which stimulated early demand from PC OEMs building PCs for the back-to-school buying season. However, we also believe that real end demand is there. OEMs are passing processor savings onto consumers, who, instead of buying cheaper systems, are purchasing more robust configurations, partially to support Windows Vista."
Modest changes in processor vendor market share belied the intensity of vendor competition in the third quarter. On an overall unit basis, AMD earned 23.5% market share, a gain of 0.4%. Intel earned 76.3%, a loss of 0.4%. By form factor, AMD's share in the mobile PC processor segment rose 1.9% to 18.9%, and its share in the PC server processor segment grew 0.7% to 13.9%. Market share changes in the desktop PC processor segment were negligible.
IDC expects strong market demand for PC processors to continue in the fourth quarter. "Both Intel and AMD noted in their third quarter earnings calls that demand remains strong," said Richard Murphy, IDC inquiry analyst. "In fact, both companies noted how the broad-based demand is spread across processor segments and regions of the world."
Article translated by Joseph Tsai and edited by Ricky Morris
