Worldwide PC processor shipments in the fourth quarter of 2009 rose modestly, compared to the third quarter, but still achieved all-time record levels for a single quarter, according to IDC's latest PC processor study. Notably, when compared to the fourth quarter of 2008, shipments in the fourth quarter of 2009 rose 31.3%. For the full year 2009, total PC processor shipments grew 2.5%, while revenues declined 7.1% to US$28.6 billion.
"Compared to the third quarter of 2009, the modest rise in shipments in the fourth quarter of 2009 indicates that the market is returning to normal seasonal patterns," said Shane Rau, director of Semiconductors: Personal Computing research at IDC. "Compared to the fourth quarter of 2008, the huge rise in shipments indicates that the market has put the recession behind it. Both comparisons indicate that the PC industry anticipates improvement in PC end demand in 2010."
Looking at market performance by PC form factor, both mobile PC processors and PC server processors grew well. Mobile PC processors, which include Intel's Atom processors for mini-notebooks (netbooks), increased 11.7% in the fourth quarter of 2009 compared to the third quarter. x86 server processors grew 14.1% on quarter. Desktop processors grew 4.8% on quarter.
On the client side (mobile and desktop) IDC noted that mainstream and performance processors rose modestly as a percentage of the total mix compared to value processors, which caused the overall market ASP of processors to rise 6.7% on quarter.
"The sequential rise in mainstream and high-end client processors points to the new products, like Core i5 and Athlon II, that Intel and AMD were shipping into the market for the year-end buying season in the fourth quarter," said Rau. "What's interesting there is that consumers were there to buy systems based on them and that OEMs were investing in them for future builds. At the same time, the sequential rise in server processors indicates that server OEMs are starting to see corporations come off the sidelines."
| IDC: Worldwide overall PC processor shipment market share by vendor, 4Q08-4Q09, 2008-2009 | |||||||
|
| 4Q08 | 1Q09 | 2Q09 | 3Q09 | 4Q09 | 2008 | 2009 |
| Intel | 81.9% | 77.3% | 78.9% | 81.1% | 80.5% | 80.3% | 79.7% |
| AMD | 17.7% | 22.3% | 20.6% | 18.7% | 19.4% | 19.2% | 20.1% |
| VIA Technologies | 0.4% | 0.4% | 0.5% | 0.2% | 0.1% | 0.4% | 0.3% |
| Total | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
*Notes: Data represent vendor unit share for microprocessors designed for use in a desktop PC, mobile PC, or PC server and shipped for revenue by the processor vendor. Shipments by vendors of RISC and EPIC microprocessors for workstations and high-end servers are not included in this table. Shipments by vendors of processors for mini-notebooks (such as Intel's Atom processor) are included in this table. IDC categorizes a netbook as a mini-notebook. Shipments by vendors of processors, which are used in non-PC applications (such as VIA's Eden embedded platform) are not included in this table.
Source: IDC, compiled by Digitimes, January 2010
| IDC: Worldwide desktop PC processor shipment market share by vendor, 4Q08-4Q09, 2008-2009 | |||||||
|
| 4Q08 | 1Q09 | 2Q09 | 3Q09 | 4Q09 | 2008 | 2009 |
| Intel | 73.9% | 70% | 70.2% | 72.2% | 71.1% | 73.4% | 71% |
| AMD | 26% | 29.8% | 29.4% | 27.4% | 28.6% | 26.4% | 28.8% |
| VIA Technologies | 0.1% | 0.2% | 0.4% | 0.3% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.3% |
| Total | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
Source: IDC, compiled by Digitimes, January 2010
| IDC: Worldwide mobile PC processor shipment market share by vendor, 4Q08-4Q09, 2008-2009 | |||||||
|
| 4Q08 | 1Q09 | 2Q09 | 3Q09 | 4Q09 | 2008 | 2009 |
| Intel | 89.1% | 84.3% | 86.9% | 88.0% | 87.3% | 87.1% | 86.8% |
| AMD | 10.2% | 15.0% | 12.6% | 11.9% | 12.7% | 12.1% | 12.8% |
| VIA Technologies | 0.7% | 0.7% | 0.5% | 0.2% | 0.1% | 0.8% | 0.3% |
| Total | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% |
Source: IDC, compiled by Digitimes, January 2010
| IDC: Worldwide x86 server processor shipment market share by vendor, 4Q08-4Q09, 2008-2009 | |||||||
|
| 4Q08 | 1Q09 | 2Q09 | 3Q09 | 4Q09 | 2008 | 2009 |
| Intel | 88.1% | 89.3% | 89.9% | 90.4% | 89.8% | 86.6% | 89.9% |
| AMD | 11.9% | 10.7% | 10.1% | 9.6% | 10.2% | 13.4% | 10.1% |
| Total | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
Source: IDC, compiled by Digitimes, January 2010
Article translated by Joseph Tsai
