AMD May Surpass Athlon 64 Heyday Marketshare
In the past year and a half, AMD managed to claw their way to strong CPU performance. With the launch of Ryzen and Zen, the company returned to compete with Intel for performance. As a result of the strong showing, the company has been doing quite well. Due to the improved fortunes, the company may be at the cusp of reaching never before seen marketshare, beating even the glory days of Athlon 64.
According to new market research, analysts expect the company to capture 30% of the CPU market by the end of the year. This is a long way from the days where AMD was barely hanging onto any marketshare. In fact, if the 30% number is reached, it will surpass the ~20% held by Athlon 64. It also fulfils a prediction from AMD that they expect to see at least Athlon 64 levels of marketshare. This is possible due to double-digit marketshare growth consistently over the past year or so.
AMD Benefitting From Intel 14nm Shortage
There are two major reasons for this optimism. One is that by moving away from just GlobalFoundries and to TSMC as well, supply will be more consistent as 14nm and 7nm overlap. Second, the ongoing Intel shortage is only making AMD more competitive. As previously reported, some OEMs like HP are increasing their Ryzen shipments to make up volume. ASUS, MSI and Gigabyte are also reportedly doing the same, boosting AMD sales.
Finally, AMD is starting to break into the enterprise market more strongly with EPYC. Putting strong enthusiast support as well, the company is riding a wave of highs right now. If they can continue to execute on track, 30% is very likely. In fact, given the 12% marketshare gain last year to reach 20%, 10% seems very doable. This is a long way from 8% from just before Ryzen launched. Hopefully, a more competitive scene between the two will serve to keep prices low for the consumer.
