Jim, this doesn't look too bad:
fast.quote.com
X86 Chip Sales Boom With Intel Still On Top - IDC Report 12/10/98
Newsbytes, Thursday, December 10, 1998 at 14:37
FRAMINGHAM, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1998 DEC 10 (NB) -- By
Matt Hines, Newsbytes. New research from International Data Corp.
(IDC) indicates that the market for x86 microprocessors reached
29.1 million units in the third quarter of 1998, representing a
22.6 percent increase over the second quarter of this year. IDC
officials indicated that Intel Corp. [NASDAQ:INTC] holds on to
the lion's share of the x86 sector but that the market leader is
under increased pressure from other developers.
IDC is calling the quarter-on-quarter increase a sign of "renewed
strength" in the processor and PC markets. While PC channel
inventory issues slowed down both PC manufacturer shipments to the
channel and microprocessor sales in the first half of '98, vendors
are once again ordering at normal consumption rates, according to
the new data. IDC said that the sub-$1,000 desktop PC market is
driving microprocessor growth with more than 90 percent of the
third quarter shipment increase coming from demand for low-end
machines.
According to IDC's bulletin, Intel's share of the x86
microprocessor arena fell to a new low of 76.3 percent in the
third quarter, as the company's competitors continue to gain
design wins and ramp chip production. This represents a roughly
ten point fall from the 86.2 percent unit share rating the firm
recorded in the first quarter of 1998. The largest share gain has
gone to AMD with 13.0 percent in the third quarter. IDC data
said that the firm has more than doubled its share of the market
from 6.1 percent in the third quarter of 1997.
IDC was quick to point out however, that the share gains of
Intel's competitors, AMD, Cyrix/National, IBM, and IDT, are all at
the low-end of the market. IDC said that because these companies
focus almost exclusively on sales of processors for the rapidly
growing sub-$1,000 PC segment, they have a very different strategy
for this portion of the market.
"Intel's need to juggle marketing and sales efforts for both the
Pentium II and Celeron product lines creates an interesting dilemma
for the company," said Kelly Henry, analyst for IDC. "To date, Intel
has delayed introducing new technologies into its Celeron family to
play up the value of these developments within its Pentium II line.
We believe this technology withholding is hurting Intel, and allowing
competitors such as AMD and Cyrix to grow share by deploying new
technology at the low-end as soon as it is available."
Despite continued pressure on Intel's unit share, IDC said it
believes that the company is well-positioned going forward. Third-
quarter microprocessor unit shipments and revenue were both
company records, and Intel products continue to dominate in
$1,500 and above PCs. IDC indicates that the company's product
segmentation strategy has enabled stable pricing over the past
five quarters, even as the industry average has steadily dropped.
It is also rumored that Intel is considering an agreement which
would allow another competitor, SiS Inc., to license the
design to its Pentium II family. The Taiwan-based company would
make Intel-compatible chipsets, sources said. Intel announced
an agreement to let the US Department of Energy utilize its
Pentium II design this week as well.
More information on IDC is available online idc.com .
Reported By Newsbytes News Network, newsbytes.com
(19981210/WIRES PC/) |
