AMD's x86 chip share breaks 30% for the first time! Intel's share falls back to 1995 levels.

According to the latest data released by Mercury Research, in the second quarter of 2026, AMD's share of x86 client CPU shipments broke through 30% for the first time, reaching 30.7%.

Intel's market share, meanwhile, fell below 70% for the first time since 1995, dropping to 69.3%. Compared to the first quarter, AMD gained 0.7 percentage points; versus the same period in 2025 (23.9%), the increase over one year reached 6.4 percentage points.

AMD's share gains this time came from both the desktop and mobile segments. In the second quarter, AMD's desktop CPU shipment share was 34.9%, while its mobile processor shipment share was 28.9%.

Mercury Research President Dean McCarron noted that in recent quarters, AMD's share of desktop CPU shipments has stabilized above 30%, and shipments of laptops powered by AMD processors have also continued to grow, jointly driving the overall client CPU shipment share higher.

It should be noted that Mercury Research's figures track CPU shipments entering the supply chain, not actual end-market installations, and they also differ from revenue share. In fact, AMD had already achieved a client CPU revenue share exceeding 30% in the first quarter of 2026, reaching 31.4% that quarter.

Mercury Research stated that actual shipments of x86 and Arm processors both showed strong quarter-over-quarter growth in the second quarter of 2026, with the overall processor market growing more than 10% quarter-over-quarter, significantly above the typical seasonal performance for the second quarter.

Rising memory market prices have also impacted PC demand. DRAM and SSD prices have continued to climb, raising the cost of new PCs and hardware upgrades, with a particularly noticeable effect on the DIY market. Some consumers made early purchases in the fourth quarter of 2025 in anticipation of price increases, leading to relatively weak retail demand in the second quarter of 2026.

AMD's own financial results also confirm the growing demand for Ryzen processors. In the second quarter of 2026, AMD's client business revenue reached $3.1 billion, up 23% year-over-year.

AMD CEO Lisa Su stated that Ryzen Pro processor sales grew more than 50% year-over-year, and the company also secured new enterprise customers. She added that AMD's overall performance in the first half of 2026 was "very strong," and although the company expects the PC market to potentially decline in the second half of the year, actual market performance has still been better than many had anticipated.