Question AMD now commands over 50% of premium CPU sales worldwide -TweakTown

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AMD now commands over 50% of premium CPU sales worldwide

Anthony Garreffa | May 3, 2020

AMD has been kicking some serious ass in the CPU business with its ever-evolving and continuously-improving Ryzen family of processors. So much so that AMD now commands over 50% of the premium CPU sales.

Intel has continued to see its CPU market share wither away to its competitor for 10 quarters in a row now, where in its recent financial report AMD CEO Dr. Lisa Su said that AMD has been pushing Intel for 30 months in a row now. Lisa added that AMD now has "more than 50 percent of premium processor sales at many top global etailers".

AMD recently posted record Q1 2020 re venues of $1.79 billion, which is up a considerable 40% over the same quarter of 2019. Su added: "PC demand in the rest of the world was strong, offsetting the softness in China. Client processor revenue grew significantly year-over-year as strong Ryzen processor demand resulted in significant double-digit percentage increases in unit shipments and ASP. As a result, we believe we gained client unit market share for the tenth straight quarter".

Remember that AMD is also now firing shots into the high-end laptop market, with the introduction of Ryzen Mobile 4000 series CPUs that the company says will help it hit "strong double-digit percentage year-over-year".

The company will also be launching its RDNA 2 GPUs and Zen 3 CPUs in the near future, with high-end Radeon GPUs to do the same to NVIDIA as Ryzen did to Intel with CPUs set to start a new GPU war later this year.



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esquared
Anandtech Forum Director

 

[moinmoin]

In case you haven't been paying attention, these Ryzen processors ARE furnaces.

They aren't. Hotspots doesn't equal overall package heat. They also aren't a problem, the CPUs handle them themselves just fine. Only problem is that the default fan speed curve is often ill suited and too noisy.

While people are so certain intel will come back with a bang they seem to forget that in forever intel has lost its process leadership. they are so dependent on their manufacturing that they simply cannot be behind forever. if they cant regain their process leadership and the mass of die output it will spiral down real quick.

Actually Intel's mass of die output will ensure its continued relevancy even having lost its process leadership. AMD can't and won't replace Intel's quantity. But Intel will have to get used to essentially becoming a commodity x86 chip manufacturer in the times they can't offer competitive process nodes.

 

[DrMrLordX]

While people are so certain intel will come back with a bang they seem to forget that in forever intel has lost its process leadership. they are so dependent on their manufacturing that they simply cannot be behind forever. if they cant regain their process leadership and the mass of die output it will spiral down real quick.

People are still pouring a lot of money into Intel for their decidedly-inferior products. It's going to take awhile for them to lose money. Elvis also makes a lot of money even though he has been dead for decades. That ought to tell you something.

They aren't. Hotspots doesn't equal overall package heat. They also aren't a problem,

While it is true that Matisse CPUs don't really burn that much power - they're all capped @ 142W at most, and that's for the 105W TDP CPUs - the hotspots do have an outsized effect on how well the boost algo will function. If Vermeer can bring down those hotspots, I see higher all-core clocks which will help performance out a lot.

 

[NostaSeronx]

If Vermeer can bring down those hotspots, I see higher all-core clocks which will help performance out a lot.

Hopefully, they will push for any-length 6-track/2-fin for critical path and long 5-track/1-fin for standard path. Of course on 7nm/6nm EUV for the increased logic density of 6-track.
6-track ~20% more dense critical paths on 7nm+
5-track <50%/x/>20% more dense everywhere else on 7nm+

Most of the power and hotspot reductions would be with the 5-track portions.

 

[Blockheadfan]

You're joking, right? I saw quite a few anti-Intel post saying this was the end of Intel. I really don't want to look them all up, but if you are completely unaware of these comments (which I doubt), I will.

How about you just post them? Otherwise I'm going to be even more sure than I already am that this was a convenient straw-man for your rambling.

 

[chrisjames61]

Premium CPU market? Anybody got a clear definition of that?

According to Gamers Nexus and Hardware Unboxed when somebody buys a cpu via their affiliate links the sales are like 93% Ryzen. Stores like Microcenter and various retailers see the same sort of percentages. So I would consider it retail DIY. Of course that is a small percentage of overall cpu sales but it speaks volumes.

 

[chrisjames61]

AMD keeps coming back, like they do right now. The x86 has only two serious players so it's hard to see how Intel could completely disappear, they won't.

I think the big question is what "coming back" actually entails. Intel will have a hard time catching up and keeping up with e.g. TSMC's node cascade since the latter is both dedicated to just that and financed by the massive smartphone market.

Steve Jobs tried to get Intel to fab processors for the first iPhone. They turned him down. They may have owned the mobile market too if not for that horrendously short sighted decision.

 

[moinmoin]

While it is true that Matisse CPUs don't really burn that much power - they're all capped @ 142W at most, and that's for the 105W TDP CPUs - the hotspots do have an outsized effect on how well the boost algo will function. If Vermeer can bring down those hotspots, I see higher all-core clocks which will help performance out a lot.

AMD very likely already is designing both the silicon design as well as the SCF logic around the presence of hotspots, so all of it would be by design. We already had several patents posted about using silicon design for intra-chip cooling, we can expect AMD laid out the silicon design in a way already making use of space between cells for cooling.

Hotspots are not going away anymore, by all accounts available they already are a critical part of the design choices taken, both in silicon design as well as for the software algorithms used.

Steve Jobs tried to get Intel to fab processors for the first iPhone. They turned him down. They may have owned the mobile market too if not for that horrendously short sighted decision.

Apple tried to unify their products around Intel's products, now Apple may be pushing for ARM everywhere. Karma and all that.

Intel is in a different position now than back in the mid/late 2000s, I doubt they are given an offer at such scale again anytime soon, if ever. To make matters worse Intel has no real history in working with outside parties (see their failed Custom Foundry effort).

Incidentally AMD is the opposite thanks to its semi custom business: AMD has a history of making custom chips, both Sony and Microsoft are stalwart high profile customers, so the hurdle of new companies approaching AMD is much lower.

 

[chrisjames61]

Apple tried to unify their products around Intel's products, now Apple may be pushing for ARM everywhere. Karma and all that.

Intel is in a different position now than back in the mid/late 2000s, I doubt they are given an offer at such scale again anytime soon, if ever. To make matters worse Intel has no real history in working with outside parties (see their failed Custom Foundry effort).

Incidentally AMD is the opposite thanks to its semi custom business: AMD has a history of making custom chips, both Sony and Microsoft are stalwart high profile customers, so the hurdle of new companies approaching AMD is much lower.

It is funny how tech is littered with companies making fateful decisions that either pushed them to the top or either forever ruined them. Intel with iPhone. IBM giving Intel and Microsoft the keys to the kingdom. Apple not listening to Bill Gates and licensing the Mac OS out very early on.

 

[wanderica]

I love my Genesis. It's going to last forever with the miles I am putting on it now.

And my experience with it certainly factored into buying my wife's Sante Fe.

I think it's safe to say there is some community echo effect that is going to make AMD seem like the "smart buy" for the next year or two, and the people that the uneducated ask about what to buy are more likely to say AMD than they have in a decade. This is a positive thing for AMD, who knows what it means for Intel but it isn't great.

I think the Genesis analogy was a good one, and I agree it's a fine vehicle; far better than the average person realizes. Hyundai has achieved something with this vehicle, but they had to decouple Genesis from the Hyundai name to do it.Those that do their research realize that the entire Hyundai lineup has improved significantly in recent years, including the Santa Fe that your wife now drives. The vast majority, however, don't realize this, and continue to think of Hyundai (and Kia) as cheap Chinese automobiles. Although, you'll find a lot more people now saying, "Now that Genesis is a good car, but I wouldn't have a Hyundai."

I think AMD faces a similar issue. Due to their own problems with Bulldozer, and GPU issues, they have made for themselves a reputation of poor quality products fit only for bargain hunters. Since the launch of Ryzen and, hopfully, RDNA, this will continue to change going forward, but they still face the uphill battle of the "Don't buy AMD. It's for bargain hunters." mentality. The challenge for AMD, in my opinion, isn't to wait on Intel to fail. It's to be good enough for long enough, that people forget how bad they used to be.

 

[chrisjames61]

I think the Genesis analogy was a good one, and I agree it's a fine vehicle; far better than the average person realizes. Hyundai has achieved something with this vehicle, but they had to decouple Genesis from the Hyundai name to do it.Those that do their research realize that the entire Hyundai lineup has improved significantly in recent years, including the Santa Fe that your wife now drives. The vast majority, however, don't realize this, and continue to think of Hyundai (and Kia) as cheap Chinese automobiles. Although, you'll find a lot more people now saying, "Now that Genesis is a good car, but I wouldn't have a Hyundai."

I think AMD faces a similar issue. Due to their own problems with Bulldozer, and GPU issues, they have made for themselves a reputation of poor quality products fit only for bargain hunters. Since the launch of Ryzen and, hopfully, RDNA, this will continue to change going forward, but they still face the uphill battle of the "Don't buy AMD. It's for bargain hunters." mentality. The challenge for AMD, in my opinion, isn't to wait on Intel to fail. It's to be good enough for long enough, that people forget how bad they used to be.

If AMD keeps the momentum going they will chip away at the Intel/Nvidia hegenomy.