"The average selling price (ASP) that OEMs pay for PC microprocessors rose more than 9% in 2011, making 2011 the second consecutive year of notable ASP increases," said Shane Rau, director of Semiconductors: Personal Computing research at IDC.
Looking at processor unit shipments in 2011 compared to 2010, overall shipments grew 3.6%. By form factor, mobile PC processor unit shipments grew 3.9% in 2011, while x86 server processor unit shipments grew 9.0%, and desktop processor unit shipments grew 2.7%.
4Q11 and 2011 Vendor Highlights
In 4Q11, Intel earned 80.3% overall worldwide unit market share, a gain of 0.1% compared to 3Q11. AMD earned 19.6% market share in 4Q11, a loss of 0.1% compared to 3Q11. VIA Technologies earned 0.1% share for the quarter, representing no change.
In 4Q11 by form factor, Intel earned 82.3% share in the mobile PC processor segment, no change compared to 3Q11. AMD finished with 17.6%, no change compared to 3Q11. In the PC server/workstation processor segment, Intel finished with 94.3% market share, a loss of 0.8%, and AMD earned 5.7%, a gain of 0.8%. In the desktop PC processor segment, Intel earned 76.1%, a gain of 0.3%, and AMD earned 23.8%, a loss of 0.3%.
For the full year 2011, Intel earned 80.1% overall worldwide unit market share, a loss of 0.6% compared to 2010. In 2011, AMD earned 19.7%, a gain of 0.7% compared to 2010. VIA Technologies earned 0.2%, a loss of 0.1%.
In 2011 by form factor, Intel earned 83.8% share in the mobile PC processor segment, a loss of 2.6%, AMD finished with 16.0%, a gain of 2.7%, and VIA earned 0.2%, a loss of 0.1%. In the PC server/workstation processor segment, Intel finished with 94.5% market share, a gain of 1.5% and AMD earned 5.5%, a loss of 1.5%. In the desktop PC processor segment, Intel earned 73.8%, a gain of 1.7%, AMD earned 26.0%, a loss of 1.6%, and VIA earned 0.2%, a loss of 0.2%.
2012 and Long-Term Market Outlook
IDC's forecast for PC microprocessor unit shipment growth in 2012 is 5.1%. Since the end of 2011 and through the first quarter of 2012 so far, IDC observes that the hard disk drive shortage that caused PC OEMs to cut back on advanced purchases of PC microprocessors has improved. IDC now believes that the HDD shortage will not be a significant factor in PC shipments in 2Q12. Combined with improving job growth in the United States and stabilization of sovereign debt issues in Europe, IDC may raise this growth rate modestly after the close of 1Q12.
The IDC report, Worldwide PC Microprocessor 4Q11 Vendor Shares (IDC #233215), provides worldwide market share results for PC microprocessor vendors on an overall unit and revenue basis, as well as by form factor (desktop, mobile, and x86 server).