What just happened? For the first time in fifteen years, AMD has overtaken Intel when it comes to global desktop CPU market share, according to PassMark. The news points to a further step in AMD that is narrowing the gap in the former undisputed leader in the consumer processing space.
The latest results from the giant PassMark Software for the first quarter of 2021 show that AMD is taking a 50.8 percent share of the global desktop CPU market and leaving Intel with 49.2 percent. The last time the team went red was in Q1 2006, although its 53.9 percent lead then lasted only a single quarter.
Chipzilla still dominates in the laptop segment with a share of 83.8 percent, while AMD stands at 16.3 percent. The difference is even more apparent in server space: Intel has 98.6 percent, AMD only 1.4 percent.
However, if we look at all processors, AMD’s new edge on the desktop means that the gap between Intel and Intel is the smallest (about 22.2 percent).
PassMark notes that the data consists of thousands of results from the PerformanceTest benchmark (download here), and because the software is only used on Windows OS, the maps do not reflect Windows users.
We’ve seen AMD inhale the neck of its competitor since the launch of the Ryzen processors in 2017, with each generation of architecture putting increasing pressure on the former fan favorite Intel. We love the 7nm Ryzen 5000 Series – the only real problem is finding one.
Intel also has the added concern that 5nm Zen 4 will come later this year. Its Rocket Lake processors, which use a Sunny Cove variant sent back to the 14nm process, will reportedly drop in March.